Brothers orphaned by 2004 Boxing Day tsunami say kind family who took them on 'saved us'

A British man orphaned by the Indian Ocean Tsunami says the family who adopted him and his younger brother after their parents were killed in Thailand on Boxing Day in 2004 allowed the siblings to rebuild their lives following the tragedy. Tsunami: Race Against Time, a new National Geographic documentary, released on November 25th and also airing on Disney+, saw researchers trawl through 300 hours of footage, some of it never seen before, to make the four-part series ahead of the 20th anniversary of the tragedy next month. Louis Mullan from Cornwall was just 16 when the deadliest tsunami the world has ever seen hit the Thai holiday resort he was staying at with his brother Theo and parents Catherine, 53, and Leonard, 49 on Boxing Day in 2004 A family torn apart: Louis and Theo pictured with their late mother Catherine, who was 53 when she lost her life - alongside her husband Leo - to the deadliest tsunami in history Catherine, 53, and Leo, 53, had been on the beach with their sons when the wave struck; their bodies were found six weeks' after the tsunami struck Tsunami: Race Against Time, a new National Geographic documentary that is also being aired on Disney+, uses previously unseen archive footage - and survivor stories - to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragey that claimed more than 227,000 lives Devastation: Banda Aceh in Indonesia was the first inhabited place to be hit following the Indian Ocean earthquake, with a deadly wave hitting land within minutes of the 9.1 Richter Scale quake Louis tells the documentary: 'As we were running we were holding hands. The family before the tragedy; Louis and Theo pay their respects every Boxing Day at the couples' headstone in Cornwall, Louis told MailOnline 'We have a little cry each year Resorts, including Takua Pa, near Phuket, where the Mullan family were staying on holiday were engulfed by water Pictured: the tourist resort of Khao Lak in Thailand Theo Mullan, Louis' younger brother, now 31, also appears in the series to describe the moment he was reunited with his older sibling An emotional Theo tells the documentary: 'It was okay, because I had Louis' Louis describes the bond with his brother as 'the most important relationship in my life', saying 'We're incredibly close' Louis tells MailOnline how he and Theo were 'incredibly fortunate' after being orphaned to be taken in by a local family.