MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – A North Carolina woman is seeking help to find her prosthetic leg that was knocked off by a wave at Myrtle Beach.

Jennifer Rhyne, of Ellerbe, North Carolina was swimming in the ocean near Lakewood Camping Resort on Wednesday when she lost the leg.

“We were about knee-deep, my daughter, my husband and I, when a wave knocked me down,” Rhyne said.

“It’s really weird because the leg is attached well, but the water must have hit the button, which is a lock-and-pin system, and disconnected it.”

Rhyne said she had her amputation about 25 years ago, but has only been swimming with the prosthetic leg for the past five years.

She says she gets a new leg about every three years or so, but this is an old one that’s been turned into her beach leg by a man who cleans it out after every use.

The salt water can create rust in the mechanical parts.

The leg cost about $15,000 new, Rhyne said.

She asks anyone who might see the leg or find it to call her at 910-206-2072. “If it gets me my leg back, yes, please feel free to call,” Rhyne said.

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