Girl Saved By Grandmother Who Died In Missouri Duck Boat Accident

Twelve year old Alicia Dennison says if it wasn't for what her grandma did right before she died in that cold water, she wouldn't be here today.

So many stories from this tragedy have have gotten to me emotionally, and this one touched a personal part of me due to the similarities between this girl and my 12-year-old daughter.

As the duck boat began taking on huge amounts of water, people onboard began screaming. The first thing on Alicia's mind was to reach up and grab life jacket for her and her grandma. Alicia is 5-foot-6, so she could easily reach to the shelf overhead and grab those life jackets. She tugged several times at the life jackets but they wouldn't come loose.

At this point the water from Table Rock Lake was filling the boat to capacity and people's heads were forced into  the boat's canopy and the windows had everyone trapped inside. The top of the boat finally broke off and gave people a chance to escape. That's when Alicia felt her grandmother, Leslie Dennison, push her from underneath. That push propelled her granddaughter toward the surface and became the last thing she ever did before dying in the cold water.

The Chicago Tribune has more on this story and others, click here.