Lifted up by the kindness of strangers

Lemafa Atia'e, 84, says the road leading to the inland fale where he now lives is rough and he doesn't want to damage the walker. Photo / Supplied

An 84-year-old man who clung naked to a pole as September's tsunami crashed over him was given a walking frame from two elderly New Zealanders - but he won't use it because he likes it too much.

The Herald revisited Lemafa Atia'e, the eldest man in the village of Utulaelae on the southeast coast, this week to check on his condition and see what aid he had received two months after the giant waves struck.

Three days after the tsunami, we reported his miraculous survival story. He was still visibly upset.

When the ground started shaking, about 7am, Mr Atia'e, who uses a piece of wood as a walking stick, was sitting in his beachfront fale. He knew his brittle bones would not take him up the nearby hill to safety.

So he stayed put despite his adult children pleading with him to follow them to higher ground.

Hitting two trees on the way, Mr Atia'e clung to a neighbour's house post and waited for his family to help him.

His lavalava was ripped off in the process.

He has since moved from his fale into the bush with his 40-year-old son, his wife and their three children.

He told the Herald - through translator Anthony McCarthy, a guide for the Samoan Tourism Authority - that his fale, which he shared with another son and his family, will be knocked down.

"He moved inland because they think it's not safe to be by the sea any more. Who knows when another tsunami will hit," Mr McCarthy said.

In October, we reported that two New Zealand-based Samoans in their 80s had given up the walking frame they shared and were sending it to Mr Atia'e.

A pastor from a New Zealand Methodist church delivered the walker, with suitcases full of clothes for the family.

But the gravel road leading up to Mr Atia'e's fale is bumpy and he says he doesn't want to ruin the walker by using it. So it hangs from the ceiling of the fale where he can admire it.

He says the Samoan Prime Minister is committed to tarsealing the road and he will use it when that happens.