Man Killed By Giant Wave After Getting Permission To Marry Girlfriend

The body of a 19-year-old Michigan man was found in the Bahamas on Friday, four days after he was swept away by a violent wave.

Jonathan Brussow of Rockford, Michigan, had reportedly just asked the family of longtime girlfriend Athena Williams, 20, for their permission to marry her when the violent wave took his life.

Brussow’s body was found on Friday "atop a cliff several hundred yards down from where the sea grabbed him," according to a statement Saturday from Williams' family. Williams shared the details of their last days together with FOX-17, a news station in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Brussow accompanied the Williams family to the Bahamas for a vacation. After Williams went to bed, he asked the rest of the family for their blessing to marry her. In the early hours of the next morning, he went hiking with her brother, Eric, and asked him separately if he was fine with the marriage.

It was then that the wave came and took both men. Williams' brother was able to hold on and get to shore, despite cuts and broken ribs. He tried to get help for Brussow, even running a mile to do so, but it was too late.

Brussow’s parents traveled to the Bahamas to assist with the search, which was made more difficult due to a tropical storm.

Brussow and Williams met at a bonfire in the summer before they began high school, and coincidentally, the two rode the same bus to school during ninth grade. They sat next to each other one morning and the rest was history, according to Williams.

A GoFundMe campaign to cover expenses for both Brussow’s death and safety equipment in the area where he died is currently two-thirds of the way to its $30,000 goal.