The woman who lost her husband and adult son in a drowning accident on Christmas Eve has spoken of her shock at watching them struggling in the intense surf when only seconds earlier they had been playing and splashing on the edge of the beach with her other 11-year-old son, who survived.

Her 45-year-old husband and 20-year-old son, who recently left the army, were declared dead after being pulled from the water along the notoriously dangerous strip of beach next to the Colonnades on Phillip Island. Her 11-year-old son was able to swim to shore and sustained minor injuries.

“They were just standing in the water. They were holding hands and playing, splashing water at each other. Then there was this big wave, they got knocked over and then more and more came,” the woman said.

“I was there, I saw everything. I was shouting for help. I was so helpless.”