Tragedy gives way to service

With a traveling itinerary nearly identical to a year ago when they embarked on their "vacation of a lifetime," Stuart Breisch, his wife Sally Nelson, and 17-year-old Jai Breisch will leave Utah this Friday and fly to the beach community of Khao Lak, Thailand, for a two-week stay.

But there is where the similarities end.

A year later, nothing can be the same, just as nothing has been the same since Dec. 26, 2004, when Stu and Sally stepped off their scuba boat into what Sally remembers as "Dante's Inferno."

The scuba excursion the couple went on that morning, along with 18-year-old Shonti Breisch, spared them from being on land when a portion of the deadliest tidal wave in history roared into Khao Lak. From one end of the Indian Ocean to the other, the tsunami swamped islands, obliterated villages and demolished resorts while leaving 2 million people homeless, another half million injured and 280,000 dead, 15-year-old Kali Breisch among them.

Miraculously, Jai Breisch, who was at the Emerald Beach Resort in Khao Lak that morning with his younger sister, managed to ride the tsunami a mile inland and survive with a dislocated shoulder, cracked head and broken leg. Among the day's fateful ironies was that the neck brace Jai was wearing due to a car accident suffered earlier in the year was credited, in part, with keeping him afloat and alive.

The family tragedy of the Breisches, who live in Olympus Cove in the Salt Lake Valley, was well-publicized at the time and will no doubt get its share of "year-after" coverage this coming week.

What hasn't been as publicized is what Stu, Sally, Shonti and Jai have done over the past 12 months to honor Kali's memory and help the people in and around Khao Lak rebuild and recover.

First, they took $10,000 worth of unsolicited donations sent by sympathizers in the aftermath of Kali's death and used that as seed money to start a foundation called 4Kali that has since raised more than $200,000.

Next, they rolled up their sleeves and went to work, helping the Thai people build boats, houses and schools while also financially supporting children who lost one or both parents.

Shonti Breisch moved to Thailand in May to help run the 4Kali Foundation, for no pay. Stu and Sally have returned to Khao Lak three times, hammers literally in hand.

Their service, they readily attest, has also been therapy. "It allows a channeling of the sorrow into something productive," says Sally. "We don't have time to wallow in our grief; there's work to do," adds Stu.