Petra Nemcova

True beauty reveals itself in one who can find virtue in a life-shattering event. Sports Illustrated cover-girl Petra Nemcova was faced with such a challenge after enduring the tragic 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed the life of her beloved fiance and shattered the supermodel’s pelvis.

“This tragedy has brought a lot of suffering, but it has brought also a lot of love between people. Every experience has a negative and a positive. It is only up to us what we focus on.”

Proving beauty isn’t skin deep, she has since rebounded to establish the Happy Hearts Fund for children victimized by natural, economic and health-related disasters. HHF rebuilds schools and focuses on education for children in post-disaster areas, from Hurricane Katrina-affected areas to Indonesia and Haiti. Globally, HHF is active in eight countries and has built/rebuilt 46 schools and kindergartens. Since inception HHF programs have benefited more than 31,000 children and 334,000 community members. Nemcova’s charitable commitment to help others has been recognized by the likes of Glamour’s “Women of the Year” and Vanity Fair’s “Women in the Know.”

With the emotion and insight that comes only from experiencing a life-altering tragedy, Nemcova shares a passionate story of what the tsunami taught her about the preciousness of being and the importance of living in the moment.

Through excerpts of her autobiography, “Love Always, Petra,” Nemcova further illustrates the powerful and uplifting message by sharing her belief that each of us has the choice to learn from hardship and use the experience to help make the most of every day.

“It’s up to each of us to decide whether hard moments in life make us weaker or stronger.”

Switching gears as quickly as she at times must wardrobes, the supermodel also discloses the not-so-glamorous side of a fashion industry.

“Young girls don’t realize how much air-brushing goes into professional pictures; models don’t have the perfect bodies that magazines make you think. Some models resort to eating disorders and drug abuse, bringing a lot of suffering to the body and mind.”

AT A GLANCE: Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue cover girl in 2003, Petra Nemcova has worked with many of the industry’s most prominent photographers, including: Gilles Bensimon, Patric Demarchelier, Vincent Peters, Mario Testino, Christophe Kutner and many others. She has been featured in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, and appeared in ad campaigns for such high-profile brands as Pantene, La Perla, Lancaster, Max Factor, Clarins and Cartier, among others.

At the 2007 Br!ck Awards Nemcova was honored for her dedication to help children affected by natural disasters through the foundation of the Happy Hearts Fund. The Br!ck Awards, which aims to encourage those young people who are making a difference to change the world for the better, awarded Nemcova with a grant in the name of her Fund to further the work she has begun. In 2007 she also hosted a new reality competition series for TLC entitled, “A Model’s Life.” Petra served as a mentor and friend to the prospective models as they learn the business of fashion and modeling, in hopes of winning potential contracts with NEXT Model Management.

Nemcova is a native of Karvina, Czech Republic, where she grew up dreaming of becoming a model. Her wish came true when she was hand-picked by an agent at a local talent search. She now resides in New York City.