INDIANAPOLIS (NBC) - In a candid interview with NBC, John Coleman and Ingrid Douglas spoke about the losing their loved ones when the duck boat in Branson, Missouri capsized.
Both Coleman and Douglas say their family was very close, and that this whole ordeal has truly been a tragedy for their family.
John Coleman still can’t believe what happened. "Unbelievable. It's still hard to imagine what happened,” he said. “To keep looking at that boat any more. They keep showing it over and over and over. it really has an effect on when you know your family was on that boat when it sunk."
"Well I'm glad they survived,” he said about Tia Coleman, who lost her husband and three children, and her nephew Donovan, who were rescued after the boat sank. “It's a miracle for sure. Donovan was a Boy Scout and went through a lot of survival training and stuff like that and maybe that's what saved his life."
"They were Christian, God loving, God fearing people,” Coleman said. “And very hard working people. Butch worked for 48 years at UPS. And they were hard working people."
"It's very hard to look at the picture online,” said Ingrid Douglas. “Knowing that almost all of your family is gone...and there's only two survivors. My heart goes out to Tia and Donovan. My heart goes out to all of my family and friends, but it's been very, very difficult."
On her relationship with her lost relatives, she said, “We loved each other....that we were close. We might not have seen each other every day. We might not have talked to each other every day. But we loved each other."
She continued, "I would just like everyone to know that they were loved and that they will be greatly missed. And that...God has a reason for everything. But this has been very. very difficult...to comprehend...and to just take it all in. This is unimaginable."
Nine of 11 Coleman family members who were on that boat died when it sank on Thursday.