We present a study of the propagation of dark line defects (DLDs) in catastrophically damaged 808 nm laser diodes, based on cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements and laser mode propagation simulations. Room temperature CL images show blurred DLDs running parallel to the laser cavity. Remarkably, low temperature images reveal their true morphology: the blurred lines are resolved as parallel narrow discontinuous DLDs. This morphology does not match the usually reported molten front scenario of DLD propagation. Low temperature images show that DLDs consist of a sequence of catastrophic optical damage (COD) events separated a few micrometers from each other. Consequently, a different propagation scheme is proposed. The points where the CODs occur suffer a temperature increase and these hot spots play a capital role in the propagation of the DLDs. Their influence on the beam distribution is modelled using finite element methods. The calculations evidence changes on the intensity distribution of the laser that qualitatively reproduce the DLD shapes. Additionally, the COD events result in the generation of defects in the region that surrounds them. The successive CODs in the discontinuous DLDs are rationalized in terms of the enhanced laser absorption in these sensitized regions where the laser beam is concentrated by thermal lensing.