Survivor of duck boat tragedy says she prayed to Jesus to get to her children

A survivor of the duck boat tragedy in Missouri last Thursday has tearfully recalled the moment she cried out to Jesus as the vessel sank.

Tia Coleman lost nine members of her family in the accident at Table Rock Lake in Branson on Thursday evening, including her husband and three children.

Speaking to KOLR from her hospital bed, she described the confusion of the final moments before the boat sank to the bottom.

'I couldn't see anybody, I couldn't hear anything - I couldn't hear screams - it felt like I was out there on my own,' she said.

'I was yelling, I was screaming and finally I said: "Lord, just let me die, let me die - I can't keep drowning, I just can't...

'Then I just let go, and I started floating, and I was floating to the top and I felt the water temperature raise to warm, and I jumped up and saw the big boat that sits out there. 'When I saw [the first responders helping survivors on the pier], they were throwing out life jackets to people. And I said: 'Jesus keep me, just keep me so I can get to my children'.