A Wave Of Love.(International Edition; TURNING POINT)(Jet Li)

Byline: Jet Li; Li is an actor and the founder of the One Foundation (www.onefoundation.cn).

Chinese action star Jet Li talks about the role of his lifetime: giving back to the community.

On Dec. 25, 2004, I arrived very late at night at the Four Seasons hotel in the Maldives with my wife and two youngest daughters, who were then 1 and 4 years old. It was dark out, but you could still sense how beautiful and peaceful the island was.

The next morning at 7:50 I felt the earth move. I knew it was an earthquake, because I'd ready been in several in China and in San

Francisco, and I didn't really think much about it. My daughters were very excited to go to the beach, so we set off earlier than planned, at around 10:10. We were just outside the hotel, by the pool and slightly above the beach, when I saw the water come.

It wasn't like in the movies, with a giant wave rolling toward you; the water just rose very fast, covering sunbathers on the sand. People started running toward the hotel, but they were still laughing. I picked up my 4-year-old, Jane, while the nanny took Jada, and we turned toward the hotel. In that instant, the water rose to my knees.

I took two steps and the water was at my hips. Two more, and it was at my chest. Then it was just under my nose. I'd put my daughter on my shoulder and was trying to hold on to the nanny's hand; she was struggling because her head was already underwater. I turned back, and everything--the beach, the swimming pool--was gone. I was just standing in the ocean, in nothing.