North Carolina father of 6 dies after 'intense wave' hits him, breaks his neck in 'freak accident'

A North Carolina father of six died last Friday after an "intense wave" hit him and broke his neck, his wife announced on Twitter.

Shannon Dingle, a freelance writer and purported sex trafficking survivor, shared the news of her husband's death last week and received an overwhelming number of responses from people who expressed their condolences.

"My partner, my love, and my home died today after a freak accident," she wrote. "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."

The impact reportedly hit Lee, 37, so hard that it made "his throat swell so much his brain was deprived of oxygen for too long to recover," according to the description of a GoFundMe campaign that has since raised more than $160,000 for the family.

Shannon said on Twitter that she met Lee, with whom she shares adopted children, when they were teenagers.

"I wasn't supposed to be saying goodbye at 37," she tweeted. "I don't know how to be a grown up without him, but I'll learn. I just wish I didn't have to."

"Details to come about all things," Shannon added. "Please pray for us. And feel free [to] 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.)"

Lee was the president of Atlas Engineering in Raleigh, family friend April Schweitzer told WRAL.

"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," she said.