Tom Gogola, from Devon, was in Samoa for a three-week holiday when the island was hit by a 20-foot wall of water.

The 22-year-old was in the water surfing when he saw the wave racing towards the shore. He did the only thing he could - and paddled as hard as possible straight for the wave.

Aiming the tip of his surfboard up to ensure its nose was not pushed under by the towering wall of water, he said he rode right up and over the top of the wave.

It is not clear how far out to sea Mr Gogola was at the time. The nearer tsunami wave comes to shore, the more quickly it will change height as the water becomes more and more shallow.

Mr Gogola's father Steve, 59, said: 'He said it was pretty unreal surfing when the tsunami happened. He and a friend decided to paddle out, rather than in, and they were picked up by a boat.

'Tom also said half of the people who were surfing got washed into the jungle.'

Mr Gogola, keeping in contact with his family on Facebook, said the tsunami has taken everything apart from a few clothes.

The college student wrote yesterday: 'I've lost everything but I've still got my life.'

His father said: 'When I saw the news I thought 'oh God, Tom is out there, I hope he is alright'.

Mr Gogola was not the only surfer to survive the giant wave by riding it out.

Surfed to safety: Chris Nel rode out the tsunami for an hour and a half, fearing that he would be smashed into the land at any second if he lost control

New Zealand student Chris Nel was surfing on the south coast of Savai'i island in Western Samoa when the 8.3 magnitude quake struck on Wednesday morning. 

He had been in the water with four other New Zealand surfers and an Australian when the tsunami appeared.

Source : DailyMail UK