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A North Carolina father of six has died after being struck by a wave that slammed his head to the sand. The impact broke his neck, his wife said on Instagram.
Lee Dingle, 37, was playing on Oak Island beach with three of his kids Thursday when the wave hit him, Shannon Dingle said. The force of the impact broke Dingle's neck and made his throat swell so badly that his brain was deprived of oxygen to long for him to recover.
"Lee was playing on the beach with three of our kids yesterday, and an intense wave hit him just right to slam his head into the sand, break his neck, and make his throat swell so much his brain was deprived of oxygen for too long to recover."
Shannon went on to say in her Instagram post that some heroes including her kids tried to save Dingle but it “wouldn't have mattered what they did”. His body couldn't recover from the inital injury.
The couple met when Dingle was 19 and Shannon was 18 and they've been together ever since.
"I don’t know how to be a grown up without him, but I’ll learn. I just wish I didn’t have to."
Lee Dingle leaves behind his wife and 6 children. CNN reported that two weeks before his death, Dingle had been promoted to the President of his company, Atlas Engineering.
In Shannon's Instagram post she asked for prayers and stated she is doing the best she can to take care of herself as she still has her six kids to parent.
"Please pray for us. And, you know, feel free cuss and smash stuff because God knows I’ll be doing some of that. (And breathing and hydrating and eating and all those self care things because I am worth it and because I have 6 little people to parent."
A GoFundMe page has been set up already raising over $100,000 for the family. Money raised will be going to funeral costs and support to help raise the family.
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