Petra Focuses on Children's Charity
Published
|
Updated
WASHINGTON -- Petra Nemcova said Thursday she recently made a tearful return to her work as a supermodel but still devotes most of her time to the children's charity she established after recovering from injuries sustained in last year's tsunami.
The 26-year-old Czech model and her boyfriend Simon Atlee were caught up in the tsunami while vacationing in Thailand. Atlee, a 33-year-old British fashion photographer, was killed. Nemcova suffered a broken pelvis.
Nemcova recounts her story in a newly published autobiography, "Love Always, Petra" (Warner Books), co-authored with Jane Scovell. Proceeds from the book go to the Happy Hearts Fund she established last summer.
Nemcova resumed modeling in September -- punctuated by a two-day crying jag -- but said it occupies only 30 percent of her time. The rest, she said, goes to her charity, which has raised at least $1.1 million for the youngest survivors of the tsunami.
"It's not a job. It's just my passion," she told reporters at the National Press Club.