Related Links More About 'A Model Life'

<< Page 1: Petra Nemcova Interview

Were you reluctant at all to talk about surviving the tsunami, and make it a part of the show?
Oh, no. It's part of my life and when somebody wants to learn about it, I am there to share. I think sometimes it helps, even if they don't go through the same experience, but maybe they are going through a similar challenge. Then it can help them to see things differently and more positively. One thing I have learned is that we have a choice, either to focus on the negative things or the positive things.

How did you get to that place, where you could look back on your experience with the tsunami and deal with it in that way?
It was a moment during New Year's Eve, where I was still in so much pain, and the morphine worked for a little bit, but then the nurses didn't know what to do, and they called the doctor, who was at home with his family. He came in at 11:30 during New Year's Eve. And he said, "Look, I know that you're in so much pain, but sometimes, on a scale of 1-10, we think that the pain is 10. But it is actually only 4, and it becomes 10 because you focus on the 10." And he told me, "Focus on something positive. Think about nice moments you had, things you want to do, just beautiful places you went." And I started thinking about it and thinking about my love ones. The next day I woke up, and I had no more pain and I could start to move. I had changed 360 degrees in one day.

Congratulations on your children's charity, the Happy Hearts Fund. I just read today that you've raised more than $2 million in less than two years. What kind of things are you doing now?
Well, our main focus is to help children all over the world, to fill the gap in education and help with anything else they need. We have a big fundraising ball in New York in October. My goal in life is to help people, especially children, and I have an incredible team of supporters who are helping with this vision, with fundraisers and donations.

That's really where your heart is?
That's really where my heart is, definitely. And it's not that easy. People have said it's harder to run a charity than it is to run a business, and that can be true. But it is something that I devote seventy percent of my time to. I do charity work and the rest is modeling and the TV show and public speaking and other things. But [the Happy Hearts Fund] is the most important thing to me.

Read Our Wayne Brady Interview >>