Tia Coleman lost nine family members during Thursday's horrific Duckboat tragedy in Missouri which claimed the lives of 17 people.
Coleman, the 34-year-old survivor who had been visiting with her family from the Indianapolis area when tragedy struck, recently opened up at a press conference on Saturday.
Tia Coleman tearfully spoke about her 3 children, husband and realtives who died in the #DuckBoatTragedy Her emotio… https://t.co/gVisPxgZKD— Jenny Dreasler (@Jenny Dreasler) 1532213614.0
The land-to-water hybrid boat capsized on Table Rock Lake near Branson when it encountered a sudden storm. Prior to leaving the dock, the passengers had been assured that life jackets would not be necessary while on board. "I'll show you where they are, but you won't need them," Coleman recalled the instructor telling her.
She added, "And we were never told after that to grab them."
@CBSNews Bless you young lady and I’m very sorry for your loss. There needs to be a law demanding life vest on these duck boats— Renegade Cowboy🐾🐾 🌊⚓️🌊🐾🐾 (@Renegade Cowboy🐾🐾 🌊⚓️🌊🐾🐾) 1532210576.0
When the boat capsized, it was already too late to search for the life jackets.
"The biggest thing that stood out to me is, no matter what, I felt like if I was able to get a life jacket, I could… https://t.co/j9K7JqkBy9— CBS News (@CBS News) 1532209484.0
"I gotta get to my babies, I gotta get to my babies," she prayed when she found herself in the dark, icy waters and swimming against the current.
Eventually, she was rescued, but the nightmare later set in when she realized she lost her husband, three of her children, a nephew, and her brother-in-law.
Tia Coleman on rescuers getting her out of the water: They were beautiful people, they were angels. When they pulle… https://t.co/r5pRkI6GlA— Stephanie Sharp (@Stephanie Sharp) 1532207528.0
People praised the grieving mother for her strength in her ability to appear in front of the press.
Tia Coleman's strength is beyond explanation. She lost 9 of her family members, including 3 children, in that duckb… https://t.co/PypJpwrJVY— Geoff Bennett (@Geoff Bennett) 1532208329.0
@GeoffRBennett I cannot watch this, for fear that what she has been through will irrevocably break my heart. I hope… https://t.co/QjLbcPYN5k— Larissa Wilson (@Larissa Wilson) 1532226851.0
Tourist boat tragedy survivor Tia Coleman describes how she survived: "I believe I survived by God, and by Good Sam… https://t.co/cCvjVVq6eq— CBS News (@CBS News) 1532209220.0
Coleman believes she could've saved her children if they had on life jackets.
They could have at least floated up to the top and someone could have grabbed them. And I wasn't able to do that.
The most heart-wrenching part of the press conference was when Coleman was asked to reflect on the family members who did not survive. "I'll remember, always, how they always loved being around family," she began.
Tia Coleman describes the nine family members she lost in the Missouri tourist boat accident: "I would ask anybody… https://t.co/gEraMUYIba— CBS News (@CBS News) 1532209699.0
Tia Coleman says her oldest child, a boy named Reece, was on the autism spectrum. Family chose #DuckBoats b/c he wo… https://t.co/w1UW14705i— Omar Villafranca (@Omar Villafranca) 1532208763.0
In our family, like I said, my son is autistic, my oldest son was autistic, so a lot of things that quote unquote 'normal families' or people that say they're normal families do we don't always do.
And that's another thing I loved about my family: they would make the situation fit for him. He likes to ride, so, he could ride; so that was one thing we knew. He loves water, and he likes to ride so we were like, 'That'd work out for everybody.' We could go drive around on the boat, we could get in the water and it wold be a good time.
Tia Coleman describes the nine family members she lost in the Missouri tourist boat accident: "I would ask anybody… https://t.co/gEraMUYIba— CBS News (@CBS News) 1532209699.0
I would tell my husband, that, what I always tell him: we in this thing for life, better or worse. And I would let him know, again, just how great of a father he is.
“I’ve never had to recover from something like this...I don’t know if there is a recovery,” Tia Coleman says of los… https://t.co/QdlSe3eXz6— Morgan Watkins (@Morgan Watkins) 1532207258.0
Coleman's devastation was felt by everyone watching the press conference, and Twitter offered their heartfelt sympathies.
@OmarVillafranca @CBSEveningNews Heartbreaking. I don't know how a person goes on from that kind of loss. May God… https://t.co/rrf3VxulIU— Violated Norm (@Violated Norm) 1532280540.0
@OmarVillafranca @CBSEveningNews 😥🙏🏼😡Deepest condolences to her, her family and friends. Terrible loss of precious… https://t.co/PSOWopsFFm— laketahoedonna (@laketahoedonna) 1532264323.0
A GoFundMe campaign was started for Coleman and her family.
The following links have been verified by GoFundMe's spokesperson, Katherine Cichy.
https://www.gofundme.com/branson-duck-boat-survivor
https://www.gofundme.com/coleman-family-boat-accident
"Our team is closely monitoring all campaigns related to this tragedy," Cichy told the Indy Star. "We often see this when tragedies happen. People want to help and people create campaigns on behalf of other people. The funds are only released to the intended beneficiary."
I’m not sure how this woman has the strength to get up in the morning after this horrific tragedy takes her kids, h… https://t.co/WYiBL3Ge5l— Janice Dean (@Janice Dean) 1532255538.0
H/T - IndyStar, Twitter, YouTube, SpringfieldNews