Video shows moments before man jumps from Kure Beach Pier

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — What started as fun in the sun quickly took a tragic turn for Maynor Cruz Bardalez and his childhood friend Denys Meza.

“Maynor called me, he asked if I want to go to the beach,” Meza said.

Cruz Bardalez jumped from the Kure Beach Pier, not knowing what was going to happen next.

A Snapchat video captured the moments before Cruz Bardalez jumped, even capturing the moment when he hit the water.

Meza said Cruz Bardalez asked him to take video of the jump, adding that they were playing around like they always did.

Meza said it wasn’t long before Cruz Bardalez began to struggle.

“He say Denys, brother, I can’t make it,” Meza said. “I’m tired. So in that moment it was my last chance. Jump to the water. Try to save him.”

Meza said he jump into the cold water. After two tries waves separated the two and Cruz Bardalez disappeared.

“Now he’s with God,” Meza said. “He’s better than me now. So that’s what I want to think.”

Meza was rescued and taken to the hospital where he was in a coma for several hours.

It’s a situation Meza said he never expected to happen, and one he won’t forget.

Meza said Cruz Bardalez was a great man, father and friend.

“I want to remember him like his happy face,” Meza said. “His smile.”

Cruz Bardalez’s body was shipped home to Honduras where friends and family held a service for him Thursday night. Meza says his family plans to bury him Friday.