Duck Survivor who lost 9 parents tells tragedy: "I thought I was dead"



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Eleven members of the Coleman family on vacation piled into a duck at Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri on Thursday. The kids were excited, the adults happy – all were enjoying their annual summer trip, which had brought them this year seven hours from their home in Indianapolis south of Missouri.

But the Colemans' adventure would end in unfathomable tragedy. Only two members of the family survived after the sudden capsizing of the amphibious vehicle, an accident in which 17 people died on board.

Saturday, 34-year-old Tia Coleman, lost her three young children and husband in tragedy, as well as her stepfather, stepmother, sister-in-law, nephew and uncle, remember moments before the sinking of the boat and the desperate thoughts that invaded it. she struggled to survive.

"I thought I was dead," she said, addressing reporters at Cox Medical Center in Branson, where she was recovering from her injuries. "I did not know how to get out."

Coleman, whose 13-year-old nephew, Donovan, also survived the accident, said that there was little sign She recalled that one of the employees of the shipping company had even reported the vests on board, but he replied that it would not be necessary for them

.I could have saved my babies, "says the Coleman, who was sitting next to one of his children," because They could have at least been climbed up to the top and someone could have caught them. "

Coleman said that she believed it was" God and the Lord. " Good Samaritans "who had helped her survive.

"I remember kicking While I was swimming, I was praying," Lord, please, let me take care of my babies. I have to go to my babies, I have to go to my babies, "she said. "[But] The more I fought to get to the top, I got shot."

Coleman said that she stopped kicking at one point and "just let go"

"I started to float," she added. eventually floated to the surface where she saw a large boat moored nearby

The boat's passengers were jumping into the water to help people in distress and throwing liferafts, said Coleman. When they came out of the boat, I did not see any members of my family.

Coleman's husband, Glenn, 40, and the couple's children, Reece, 9; Evan, 7 years old; and Arya, 1, perished. The other Colemans who died were Belinda, 69; Ervin, 76; Horace, 70; Angela, 45, and her 2 year old son, Maxwell

When asked by reporters Saturday what it will be like to go home to Indianapolis, Coleman said she knows it will be "completely, completely difficult".

"Since I've had a house, she has always been filled with little feet and laughs, and my husband. I do not know how I'm going to do it, "she says.

Coleman urged people to remember his latest family members" like the beautiful people they were. From her immediate family, she said that Glenn Coleman was a Reese was the "happiest and sweetest little boy" who was autistic and "made every day worth living." Evan loved life and was "extremely intelligent, fast and witty" and baby Arya was a little ball of fire. "Who loved to fuck.

From her other parents, she said that Horace loved to laugh and have fun, Ervin had a "heart of gold", and Belinda was "always there with a word of support." Angela was "So loving" and Max, the 2 year old, was the "sweetest baby of all time".

"He loved big cuddles and warm kisses," says Coleman through tears.

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