Tia Coleman lost her husband and her three children in last week's duck boat sinking.
More than $500,000 has been raised for the sole survivor of a family that drowned in last week's horrific duck boat sinking in Missouri.
Tia Coleman lost her husband, Glenn, sons Reece, 9, and Evan, 7 and 1-year-old daughter Arya. A GoFundMe account has been established for Tia by her sister, Leeta Bigbee.
"I've always loved water," the distraught mother said over the weekend. "But when that water came over the boat, I didn't know what happened," she said of the storm that swamped the tourist vessel. "I had my son right next to me. But when the water filled up the boat, I could no longer see. I couldn't feel anybody, I couldn't see. I just remember, 'I gotta get out, I gotta get out.'''
The Ride the Ducks amphibious boat was carrying 31 when it went down. Seventeen lost their lives. None of the dead were wearing life jackets, CNN reported.
Other Coleman relatives were on board as part of an extended family vacation. Only Tia and her 13-year-old nephew survived. His mother, Angela Coleman and brother, Maxwell Coleman, 2, also perished. The other family members killed were Belinda Coleman, 69, Ervin Coleman, 76, and Horace Coleman, 70.
The incident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Company officials have expressed sympathy to the families of the victims and have said the firm will pay all travel and medical costs for the survivors and their families.
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