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Arunay Pruthi was swept away into the Pacific Ocean while trying to save his younger brother, father and mother. Sharmistha and Tarun, Arunay’s mother and father later learned that unknowingly their 12 year old son became a victim of sneaker waves, never to be returned ashore. 

Pruthis and their friends, who have been living in the Bay Area for decades, discovered in the course of a two-month-long search for Arunay, that sneaker waves are prevalent in Northern California Beaches. Over the years, many families have lost their loved ones to sneaker waves and rip currents and yet nothing has been done to create awareness about these dangerous phenomena.

Arunay lost his life at one of the state beaches on the Half Moon Bay coast. Fearing that more beachgoers will be caught unaware by sneaker waves and dangerous rip currents, Sharmistha and Tarun rose beyond their sorrow and pain, and sprung into action. 

Sharmistha and Tarun, together with their close friends, created Arunay Foundation in memory of their son to raise money for installing safety rings at beaches and to generate awareness among beachgoers.