COOS BAY, Ore. -- His mother remembers him as "Craigy," her nickname for the 6-year-old boy ripped from her grip last weekend by a pair of sneaker waves.

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At 40, Angie Leone gave birth to her son Craig prematurely. Last weekend, he died as rescuers were flying him to a hospital from Simpson Beach south of Charleston on the Oregon coast.

"He was born early in this world and he was taken away early," Leone told The World of Coos Bay. "I don't think it's fair, but it was God's choice."

His uncle, Roy Tyler, 39, tried to rescue him from the waves and was lost in the ocean. He remains missing.

Last Saturday, Leone, her sister Robin Tyler, 47, Roy Tyler and Craig went to the beach at Shore Acres State Park to play in the tidepools and look for shells. As they turned to go home, two waves struck the family.

After the first, Leone grabbed her son, but a second wave smashed her into a rock.

"I didn't realize I had let go of Craig until it receded, because I was holding onto him for dear life," Leone said. "That's when I said, 'Grab Craig! Grab Craig! He's right there. He's right there.' "

Roy Tyler pushed Robin, his wife of less than a month, toward the beach.

A bystander helped Leone off the rocks, as the ocean swept away the man and boy.

"By the time I reached Robin I couldn't see their heads anymore," Leone said.

Bend resident Bryce Robertson was a witness.

"It was horrifying. It looked like they were sliding down a waterfall," Robertson said. "The water was just so powerful and moving so fast that it pulled them out."

Then Leone heard another person on the beach scream: "Oh my god, there's the boy! There's the boy!"

Craig was on the other side of the beach, shirtless and blue in the face.

Robertson administered CPR while Leone tried to give him direction. They worked on the boy for 10 minutes as they waited for help to arrive.

"I kept calling out Craigy's name. I never gave up," Leone said.

A Coast Guard helicopter scooped up the youngster for transport to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, but "Craigy's little heart gave out on the way," Leone said.

Leone and Craig had moved from Wasilla, Alaska, about two months ago to be with her mother.

Craig was to be cremated. Leone said she chose to donate his organs so other children will have a better chance at life.

"I don't want somebody else to lose a child," Leone said. "It's the hardest thing in the world."