Paul Giardina knew how to lavish loved ones with kisses and hugs. And when friends visited the family’s Rosanna home, he would swing an arm around them.

The Giardinas miss that unabashed affection.

When their beloved son was washed away in the Boxing Day tsunami — ripped from his father’s hand in the torrent that devastated Thailand — they lost a special boy.

Paul had Down syndrome. At just 16 he had already survived two heart operations when the tsunami claimed his life 10 years ago.

But he has left a lasting legacy for those who knew and loved him.

“He changed our life for the better. We had 16 wonderful years. The love that he gave was unconditional,” dad Joe Giardina said yesterday.

Paul Giardina with Santa the day before the Boxing Day tsunami disaster.

“He’s given us an understanding and appreciation of what it means to have a ­special relationship with a special child.”

Paul was having breakfast with his parents at Patong Beach’s Seaview Hotel when the tsunami swamped them.

They ran into the hotel. The water hit Mr Giardina at waist height.

He and Paul became separated from his wife, Evanna.

“I had him up against a pillar and was trying to hold him,” Mr Giardina said.

But the raging torrent threw the pair over a wall. Mr Giardina managed to hold on to his boy’s collar before being hit on the head by debris and dragged under the water.

Joe Giardina recalls the day he lost son Paul. Picture: Sarah Matray

Paul was ripped away and Mr Giardina became pinned to a wall.

“The next thing I remember is the moment when I opened my mouth and took in as much water as I could.

“I realised what was happening so I wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.”

A friend found him unconscious and with broken ribs. He was reunited with his wife later that day. Paul’s body was identified on the third day.

“It does change your outlook on life. Certainly, you refocus. You don’t want to take life for granted. You get caught up in the day-to-day life with children. Something like this highlights to you it can be taken away from you.”

The void left by Paul’s loss was the driving force behind the family’s decision to open a designer shoe shop in Ivanhoe in 2006.

Mr Giardina and daughter Carla, 28, will travel to Thailand on Tuesday for a 10th anniversary memorial service.

He has written to the Prime Minister’s office to push for an Australian memorial to the tsunami victims.

“I can’t go and stand somewhere and think about the moment, think about what happened, think about Paul and the other victims. I think it’s appropriate that we get something like that.”

shelley.hafield@news.com.au

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