Petra Němcová
Petra Němcová, December 2006
Birth name	Petra Němcová
Date of birth	24 June 1979 (1979-06-24) (age 30)
Place of birth	Karviná, Czech Republic then Czechoslovakia
Height	1.79 metres (5 ft 10 in)
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Hazel
Measurements	34B-24-35 (US)90-61-90
Weight	117 pounds (53 kg)
Shoe size	8
Official website

Petra Němcová (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɲɛmtsovaː] ¹; born 24 June 1979 in Czech Republic then Czechoslovakia) is a model, television host, author, and philanthropist. She is also the founder and president of Happy Hearts Fund. In December 2004, she was injured in Thailand by a tsunami resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; her then-fiancé, photographer Simon Atlee, was killed in the tsunami. Her last name pronounce nyem-tsaw-vah:.

Biography

Her father was a mason and her mother, a teacher. She has a sister called Olga. She became a model after being spotted at the age of 16 during a national talent search.²

Němcová on 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover

She was featured on the cover of the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue but appeared also in the editions of 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.³ She has also modeled for Victoria's Secret, and for many other companies in the women's clothing market. In addition to working with world class photographers on her Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object/subject of Joanne Gair's body painting work.⁴ On 3 June 2004, she was one of the telecast judges during the 53rd annual Miss Universe competition in Quito, Ecuador.

She speaks Czech, Slovak, Polish, English, French, Italian and is fluent in Body language as she said in a humorous way in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel.¹

The 2004 tsunami

During the Indian Ocean earthquake of 26 December 2004, Němcová was at the Khao Lak resort in Thailand with her main photographer and fiancé, Simon Atlee when the tsunami struck where they were staying. Initially, Atlee was presumed missing, but his body was found and identified on 3 March 2005, on the shores of Sumatra (near the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the Tsunami).

Atlee drowned, and Němcová suffered a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries, but she managed to hold onto the top of a palm tree, reportedly for eight hours, until she was rescued by Thai civilians and airlifted to an inland hospital nearby.⁵ Petra spent three weeks in a Thai hospital, and then flew home to the Czech Republic, where she spent an additional three weeks in the hospital. Atlee's body was not found until over two months after the tsunami. Němcová's first interview after her near-death experience was with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Primetime Live, on 9 March 2005. She has also spoken of her experiences on the Larry King Live program on CNN.

Happy Hearts Fund

In 2005, Němcová started The Happy Hearts Fund, a charitable organization and campaign formed after her survival and recovery from the Tsunami of 2004. It aims to advocate and provide for disadvantaged youngsters who have had to endure hardship and who are not receiving the essential and sustainable help they need for healthy childhood development. It actively partners with charities, donors and foundations committed to providing immediate, tangible assistance for children.⁶⁷

Moving on

Němcová in 2007

In 2008 she visited Peru to help support the victims of the 2007 Peru earthquake

She arrived at the Un Conte De Noel Premiere at the Palais des Festivals during the 61st International Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2008 in Cannes, France.

Glamour magazine awarded Němcová a "Survivor Award" in 2005 for the way she picked up her life following her tsunami ordeal; her comeback being complete with her appearance in the 2006 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She also appeared in the 2007 British FHM calendar as Miss May. She is now the host of TLC's A Model Life.

She wrote Love Always, Petra (ISBN 0446579130) published December 2005, which tells of her early life under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, her entrance into the field of fashion and modeling, and her breakthrough into Sports Illustrated, which was her springboard to becoming a supermodel. She also tells of her life with Simon Atlee and how they fell in love and became engaged to marry.

Němcová has also moved on romantically, briefly dating British singer James Blunt in 2006.

On 7 July 2007 she was a presenter at the American leg of Live Earth and appeared in the music video 'Misfit' by American indie group Elefant.³ She is currently working with HP computers to produce a multi-million dollar TV and web campaign.⁸

In July 2007, Němcová became a vegan after learning about the planet's rapidly depleting fish stocks. The Czech Republic-born model gave up meat and dairy in February of that year.⁹

Also in July 2007, Němcová partnered with New York City power broker Ron Schnackenberg to form a luxury boutique real estate firm Aglow Properties, which specializes in representing high net-worth/high profile clients in a very discreet manor. Aglow Properties has been linked with several high priced New York City apartment transactions.

On 12 November 2007 Němcová visited Haiti alongside Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean as part of a charity-sponsored event. The inauguration of a computer lab and an eatery in the slums of Port-au-Prince were funded and sponsored by Jean's Yéle Haïti foundation and Němcová's Happy Hearts Fund.¹⁰

Němcová is signed to Chic Management in Sydney, Australia. Recently she traveled in Mykonos island to attend a party in honor of De Grisogono jewels and she also did a fashion shooting for the Greek edition of Hello! magazine. Němcová is also signed to Next Models Management.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Petra Němcová

• Official website
• Aglow Properties
• Petra Nemcova at Fashion Model Directory
• Petra Němcová at MySpace
• "P-Nemcova.com" fansite
• "Happy Hearts Foundation"