North Carolina father loses his life in Oak Island tragedy
A fun-filled trip to the beach turned into a day this family will never forget after an ‘intense wave’ broke a North Carolina father’s neck.
Lee Dingle was playing with three of his six kids in the ocean when a wave struck him in a ‘freak accident.’
The accident broke the 37-year-old’s neck, causing his throat to rapidly swell, which cut the oxygen off from his brain.
“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 and break his neck,” his wife, Shannon Dingle wrote on Twitter.
Dingle was unable to be resuscitated, despite efforts from multiple individuals.
“Some heroes — including our kids — tried to save him, but it wouldn’t have mattered what they did,” Shannon Dingle continued. “His body couldn’t recover from the initial injury.”
“A powerful wave at the beach, something totally unexpected,” a family friend of the Dingles, April Schweitzer, said.
“There was just too much swelling to do anything for him,” she continued.
He was the president of Atlas Engineering in Raleigh, where he had worked for 15 years. He had been promoted to partner just three weeks ago.
A family in need
“I think anyone who knew Lee was just a better person for having known him and for having that example of kindness and love and generosity in our lives,” Schweitzer said.
Lee Dingle is survived by his wife and six children by birth and adoption.
“How he saw each child for who they were uniquely and just supported them in that, encouraged them and was just always there for them,” Schweitzer said.
Shannon and Lee met when she was 18 and he was 19. They were together ever since.
“I wasn’t supposed to be saying goodbye at 37,” she said. “I don’t know how to be a grown-up without him, but I’ll learn. I just wish I didn’t have to.”
A GoFundMe page for the family has raised $197,312 of its $200,000 goal as of 6:00 p.m.
