Jewel Samad/ AFP / Getty Images
Martunis survived for 21 days by himself on the beach in the Banda Aceh region by clinging to trees and living off of dried noodles and puddle water.
He lost his mother and siblings to the tsunami that killed over 230,000 people, but was eventually reunited with his father and grandparents.
“On the morning of the tsunami I was playing football with my friends,,” Martunis told the BBC. “At first I stood on a school chair, but when that started to sink, I got up onto a mattress.