Petra Nemcova is the busty model who landed in the headlines after she told her tale of surviving the 2004 tsunami in Asia.

A native of the Czech Republic, Nemcova was discovered by modeling scouts when she entered a national talent contest at 16. She became an Elite model a year later, landing small spreads in Czech Cosmopolitan. Her star continued to rise with her move to Milan and then to Paris when she was 18. It was in the French capital that she earned contracts with Max Factor, Cartier, and La Perla and also walked in runway shows for Armani and Valentino. She graced the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 2003.

In the end, it wasn't her modeling that placed her squarely in the spotlight. While vacationing in Thailand in December 2004, Nemcova and her fiancé, British photographer Simon Atlee were caught in the massive tsunami and Atlee drowned. Nemcova was rescued after clinging to a treetop for several hours despite a broken pelvis. She's since continued to model and has appeared in campaigns for Fortunoff jewelry and the decidedly downmarket clothing chain Rampage. With a ghostwriter, she also penned a memoir about the tsunami and her childhood in Communist Czechoslovakia, 2005's Love Always, Petra. More recent projects have included a reality series on TLC, A Model Life, and Dancing with the Stars.

Nemcova wears a wedding band on her right hand, a gift from Atlee's mother. She apparently has a weakness for Brits: She dated pasty pop star James Blunt. They broke up after a year in early 2007 but in 2011 she announced her marriage to British actor Jamie Belman. [Image via Getty]