The day after Christmas, December 26, 2004, changed my life forever. I was 17, happily riding an early morning train from Colombo to Galle in the south with my family. We were excited to meet relatives who were visiting Sri Lanka after a decade – like everyone else, oblivious to the tragedy ahead.

Everything was calm when our train stopped at the coastal village of Paraliya. Then a wall of water hit us. It was 9.28 am. I heard screams and saw commotion. Nothing was left undamaged.

This was the catastrophic tsunami that struck Sri Lanka 20 years ago.

I survived, and managed to save my mother, her sister and her son. But I could not save my father – my best friend and my pillar of strength.

With the support of many, I brought the rest of the family back to Colombo. But I could not stop to rest. I had to go back to Paraliya to find my father’s remains.

His soul had left his body but I felt him beside me, as I always have since then, an invincible source of strength and courage.

I had to gather all my strength and courage to find him. I vowed not to return without him.

Growing up with my parents and...