RAVAGED scenes of flattened villages passed by as a York graduate travelled from one tsunami-hit community to the next to offer aid.

Globe-trotter Tim Wilson is one of York's first eye-witnesses of the relief effort to return from the Far East, where he had been travelling when the tsunami struck.

The 24-year-old, from Huntington, had intended to be in Thailand's Phuket on Boxing Day with his girlfriend, Lisa Berwin - but they had decided to stay in Vietnam, luckily escaping the danger zone.

The couple, both Northumbria University graduates, were uncertain whether to venture into tsunami-hit areas amid fears of epidemic outbreaks, but they felt they needed to help.

Cutting his travels short, he headed to Matara in southern Sri Lanka after learning that desperately-needed aid had not reached the devastated coastal town.

He said: "On the trip I saw whole villages the size of Acomb and Heworth just flattened."

A scene of chaos greeted him in Matara. People visiting temples and markets by the sea had been washed away while the school, St. Mary's Convent, was badly damaged by the waves.

"There had been reports of an earthquake on a small island nearby and people thought another tsunami was coming," recalled the former All Saints' School student.

"Parents had rushed into school grabbing their children from lessons, people were pushing, falling and crashing their cars.

"One doctor was in the process of giving a blood test when suddenly his patient and the translator fled in panic. One of the mothers at the school paid a driver to sit outside throughout the day and if there was any sign of another wave to grab her child and run."

Another vivid memory is of a an 80-tonne train lying on its side. It had been carrying 1,500 people when it was swept up - 50 people lived. One such survivor was a pupil from St Mary's.

Tim said: "He was waist deep in mud swallowing water, thinking his life was over. He still has lung problems. These are the stories I was hearing every day. There wasn't a day I didn't cry quietly to myself. It was physically and emotionally tough. I still dream of it every night."

Particularly upsetting was meeting children who had lost family, friends, their home. "No one went untouched," said Tim.

Kumari Kulatunga, who was in charge of the convent, welcomed Tim into her home.

Tim said she was "evidently worn out". Desperate for help, she and the nuns had not had any rest. "Even the nuns seem to have lost hope," he said.

Tim said Kumari had felt able to cope until she had to search through 600 corpses to identify the body of a friend.

Tim helped sort the library, tackled administration, contacted donors for a new library and sorted through damaged deeds for the building.

He also tried, but failed, to help tsunami casualties.

"When the dressings were removed from an old man who had lost one finger, my legs buckled and I had to leave the room.

"It was tougher than I imagined"

Updated: 11:33 Tuesday, February 15, 2005