When seasoned surfer Mike Haines got "caught out" at Wombarra and crashed into a reef, he knew he was in big trouble.
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For about a minute he felt paralysed, then scrambled onto his board and dragged himself across coral to make it to shore.
In hindsight it was "pure adrenalin" that got him up the beach to his distressed wife, who called for an ambulance.
"She made me lie on my board bag until the ambulance arrived," the father of three from Bulli said yesterday.
"She's an ED nurse so she knows, she knew I should not have been moving.
"I had to get my wetsuit off. It was new and I knew the ambos would cut it off me," he said.
His good humour got him through some frightening hours as he waited to learn the extent of his injuries.
"I broke two vertebrae in my neck and hyperextended all the muscles in my back as I went over and hit the reef," the 37-year-old said.
"The whole reason I'm not in a wheelchair is because of what they did for me."
Mr Haines says he has the paramedics, both on the ground and in the rescue helicopter, to thank for his chance at a full recovery.
"They knew it was a major injury and they were super-careful," he said.
"When the helicopter came there was a doctor on board. He said, 'Get him straight to the spinal unit in Sydney'.
"They knew the drive would be a nightmare with my injuries, knew I needed to be still and get there as quick as possible.
"They joked around in good humour all the way, made me feel safe. I didn't realise how bad it was until I got to the hospital.
"They told me I shouldn't have walked up the beach after it happened.
"They didn't know how I made it, said it was pure adrenalin."
New Zealander Mr Haines, who moved to Bulli because it was "the closest thing to home", has seen at first hand how a community's fighting spirit can "move mountains".
"I've been listening to the talk that they're trying to pull the rescue helicopter out of the area - they did that in New Zealand before I left," he said.
"I thought with this accident I can tell my story so they know how important it is to keep the service here, especially being a surfing town."
