Julian Desmarais was at an Oregon beach to spread his dog’s ashes when an unexpected wave came crashing onto the shoreline.
That wave threw Desmarais, an Army veteran, off the log he was standing on. The log then crushed him and broke his leg, a TikTok video shows.
Desmarais and his friend Emmy Isle went to a beach March 1 near Mo’s Seafood & Chowder in Lincoln City, he told McClatchy News by phone on March 12.
He was there to spread Koda’s ashes, a King German Shepherd and Desmarais’ companion for the past nine years.
“He was a water dog, and the beach was one of his favorite places. That’s why I was going out there,” he said.
Desmarais went close to the shoreline, stood on a log and started to pull out Koda’s ashes when a sneaker wave came out of nowhere and sent him into the water.
Isle was standing further from the water and caught the moment on camera.
A video shows Desmarais fall forward as the wave hits, then he falls backward as the log rolls over him.
Isle stops recording to rush over to help her friend.
At this point, Desmarais said he started crawling and was “screaming for help.”
Onlookers also heard his cries and ran over to him, including an off-duty medic, he said.
It took about five or six people to carry him to a waiting ambulance where he was taken to a nearby hospital in Lincoln City.
Desmarais then had to be transported to a different hospital in Corvallis where he underwent surgery for a broken femur.
“It was the most pain I’ve ever been in in my life, hands down,” he said.
Cody Heidt, a spokesperson for the North Lincoln Fire & Rescue District #1, told McClatchy News the log weighed about two tons. The average weight of a white rhino is about the same.
Although, Desmarais grew up in the area, he said he knew better and shouldn’t have been standing on the log to begin with.
“I’m just happy to be alive. I’m very, very lucky.”
Julian Desmarais is pictured with Koda. Julian Desmarais What to know about sneaker waves
Sneaker waves unexpectedly surge up further on the beach. They can be deadly and dangerous, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
These waves can sweep beachgoers away, and they can carry heavy wet pieces of logs that can knock people over or pin them.
Beachgoers should check weather, surf and tide forecasts for any warnings of sneaker waves, NOAA said.
“We would like to remind beachgoers to not stand or play on drift wood/logs that are near the surf line, never turn their backs on the ocean, and to watch for and adhere to warning signs that are posted,” Heidt said in an e-mail.
Lincoln City is about a 60-mile drive west from Salem.
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