In the final hours of his life, several people struggled to resuscitate 6-year-old Craig Leone after a sneaker waved dragged the child and his uncle, Roy Tyler, out to sea Saturday at Simpson Beach.

 But his family said that in the heat of the moment, it was Tyler who gave his life for his young nephew, somehow getting the boy back to safety although the man never made it to shore at the Shore Acres State Park.

“We really believe he pushed him into the wave so it could push him out,” said his wife, Robin.

She, along with Craig’s mother, also was struck by the wave.

Craig died on Saturday hours later and Tyler remains missing.

Although a dual funeral will be held for Craig and Tyler, Robin Tyler said she is in denial, still holding onto a last glimmer of hope that her husband will be discovered alive.

Outside her sister and mother’s home in Coos Bay, Robin Tyler stood in the sun, her body bent in obvious pain and exhaustion. A giant black bruise stained her hip from Saturday’s ordeal. Her voice subdued, she spoke of Tyler as a hero.

“I know he saved me because I saw that wave and didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I think my heart just wants to keep him alive in here.”

Tyler is a former employee of The World. He and Robin married on Oct. 4.

On Wednesday, the family will hold memorial services for Craig and Tyler at 11 a.m. at the Holy Redeemer Church. Friends and business owners in Alaska have raised money to send Leone’s three older boys to Coos Bay for the service.

Making beaches safe

In the meantime, the family is getting support from friends including Vicki Heard, who sat with them and Roy’s mother, Marie Williams, that afternoon.

Heard, a volunteer at Shore Acres, said she believes cell phone towers need to be placed at the beach for emergencies, as those few minutes spent running for help could save a life.

“We really need to start championing that up and down the coast,” Heard said.

Leone said she’d also like to see signs placed at the beach warning of sneaker waves, so that others will be aware.

One of Craig’s rescuers, Bryce Robertson, who is still in shock over the weekend’s tragedy, said he agrees. The visitor from Bend said that the only sign he saw at the beach asked visitors not to harass marine life.

“Someone went to the effort of posting that sign not to touch the animals when I felt like the real danger was the strong currents or the strong undertows,” he said.

 Without a body to put to rest, Robin Tyler said the only evidence left of her husband at the beach was a single sandal his friend found on the shore. That same friend plans to have the shoe bronzed and to set up a memorial sign or plaque cautioning beach-goers about sneaker waves.

“To help warn others ... in memory of him,” she said. “He saved my life and he tried to save Craigy’s. He’s a hero — that’s just the way he is.”