Ten years after the devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia, an Australian mother has recounted the trauma she faced when she had to make an unimaginable decision: which of her two sons to save when the wave hit.

Sitting with both of her sons around the table, this is a scene Jillian Searle never dreamed of ten years ago.

Jillian was on holiday in Phuket with her husband and boys. When the tsunami hit.

"I was down by the pool putting sunscreen on the boys, and them I've kind of heard like a loud roaring sound and it sounded like a jet plane in the sky and I kind of looked up and I couldn't see a plane, I thought - oh. And then I saw the birds in the sky taking off, which I thought was a bit strange. And then next thing, yeah, I just saw all this water coming over the wall of the hotel," said Jillian Searle, a tsunami survivor

Faced with the overwhelming wave, Jillian struggled to carry both her children to safety.

She knew 5-year-old Lochie could not swim and was afraid of water. But she also knew that if she tried to hold on to him and 20-month-old Blake, they would all be lost. Which son to hold and which to let go? It's been the most excruciating decision for Jillian in her lifetime.

"I knew I had to let go of one of them and I just thought I had better let go of the one that's the oldest. A lady grabbed hold of him for a moment, she had to let him go because she was going under. And I was screaming trying to find him and we thought he was dead," said Jillian Searle.

Jillian and her youngest son were found by her husband later. When the surge eased, the couple began frantically searching hotel rooms and wading through wreckage. Jillian said a lot of guilt was going through her mind. She screamed that she had lost Lachie forever.

But miraculously, Lochie survived by clinging to a door frame for two hours before eventually being rescued. Lochie is now 15 and lives with his mom and brother in Perth, western Australia. He still remembers the frightening experience.

"When I knew she kind of let go of me, I was like - that's all right, I understand. well, he was younger, he would have had no chance of surviving and I was obviously older, so I think it was kind of a smart decision from mum," said Lochie Searle, Jillian's son.

Looking through old newspapers, Jillian says she is still grateful for the Christmas miracle delivered to them a decade ago.

"Every Christmas and every birthday I just think you are so lucky cause things could be so different. Yeah, putting your life into perspective and just realising how lucky you are," saod Jillian Searle.

8-thousand people died on Thailand's coast that day, but of all the tales of survival, Jillian's is one of the most moving.

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