What would you call this? Love for their pet or stupidity?
A
California couple and their 16-year-old son were swept out to sea over
the weekend after a deadly chain of events set off when the teenager
jumped into frigid waters to save the family dog from turbulent Pacific
Ocean waves.
Although
the dog escaped on its own from the water off the Northern California
coast, Howard Kuljian, 50, and Mary Scott, 54, of Eureka died while
their 16-year-old son, Gregory Kuljian, remained lost at sea, said
Deputy Ariel Gruenthal of the Humboldt County Coroner’s office.
“The
dog was able to get out somehow,” said Dana Jones, a state parks and
recreation district superintendent. “It’s very sad, and we just always
have to be aware when we’re around the ocean that nature is sometimes
out of control.”
According to Jones, the tragedy began on
Saturday afternoon while the family, including an 18-year-old daughter
who was unharmed, was walking with Gregory’s girlfriend along a steep
beach at Big Lagoon, about 270 miles north of San Francisco.
Howard
Kuljian threw the dog a stick, she said, and a wave, possibly as high
as 10 feet, pulled the animal into the water. The son went in first to
try to rescue his dog, Jones said.
“Then the father went in to
save the son. The mother was swept in at that point,” she said. “The
waves are big and powerful, and that’s a very steep beach. The waves
pound the beach. When the waves are pounding like that, you don’t have a
chance to breathe.”
A bystander summoned help while Olivia
Kuljian, 18, and Gregory’s girlfriend, Lily Loncar, 16, watched in
horror, Gruenthal said.
Rescuers found the bodies of Howard
Kuljian and Scott close to the shore, Jones said. The U.S. Coast Guard
searched by air and sea for Gregory, but fog, darkness and the
impossibility of survival prompted them to quit on Saturday evening,
said Lieutenant Bernie Carrigan of the Coast Guard.
He estimated
the water temperature at between 55 and 57 degrees, so cold that
hypothermia would rapidly set in, though a dog’s coat would protect
against it.
“It’s kind of a reminder to never turn your back on
the ocean,” Carrigan said. “It’s neat to see that kind of power. It’s
also dangerous.” [Reuters]
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