She said: "He was a real hero. Who knows what would have happened if I had been swept away - there was no way I could swim in that water.
"Christy was still there with us the next day and he saw us on to the coach when we were going to the airport. I will never forget what he did for me."
While they were on holiday the couple met Bill and Audrey Mottram from Ormskirk. The grandparents had travelled to Sri
Lanka as a "hero's return" for Mr Mottram, who served on the island in World War II as a 19-year-old marine.
Mr Mottram, 80, remembers the eerie calm before the storm.
He said: "We were on the beach after breakfast and the first thing we noticed was there were tide marks, which is odd, because the Indian Ocean does not have a tide.
"The boats were on dry land and the water had been sucked out and there were hundreds of crabs scuttling around everywhere. Everybody wanted to know what was happening. Then the people from the hotel came out to get us off the beach."
The couple returned to their hotel and watched the disaster unfolding in Phuket, Thailand, on the television, unaware they too would soon be involved.
Mr Mottram said: "The next thing we heard was shouting and screaming so we ran into the hallway and the water just hit us and carried us with tables and chairs right along the corridor.
"It comes so fast, it's like an express train. We were thrown about like ping-pong balls. When the water hit the wall at the end I lost Audrey. I went under feeling for her and thankfully managed to get my arms around her waist and lift her up."
The Mottrams' biggest fear was hitting their heads on floating debris.
Mrs Mottram, 79, remembers putting out her arms, now covered in bruises, to take the force out of the blows.
As the water recoiled, it dragged the pair back towards the sea but miraculously they managed to cling on to some secure furniture, saving them from the fate that claimed so many lives.
Four days into their two-week holiday, the Mottrams were on a flight back home. They are now all too aware of how lucky they have been.
Mr Mottram said: "All we lost was our beach bags and some money. If the tsunami had hit at night we wouldn't have stood a chance."
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