But on Friday, the former Bulli Ironman made his return to competitive racing, lining up against other top athletes in North Wollongong’s Summer of Surf series.

Excited “just to line up, stand there and challenge myself” the 37-year-old has spent the past year working up to his comeback, which also marks the beginning of his farewell Ironman season.

He was injured on New Year’s Day 2016, when he went out for an early morning surf at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast and was driven headfirst into a shallow sandbank.

The accident cracked his C4 and C5 vertebrae and kept him flat on his back for several months.

Preparing to take his first competitive steps on Friday afternoon, Mr Berg was counting his blessings.

“Everyone says ‘oh you poor thing, it’s bad luck’, but I feel really lucky because there’s other people who had the same break as me and they’re still in a wheelchair,” he said. “You just really appreciate how lucky you are to have an able body, and also to have healthy kids.”

The comeback hasn’t been easy, and there were at least three months when his wife Jade Sutcliffe – heavily pregnant with son Tally – “had to dress me each day, wash me, lay me down, stand me up”.

However, the couple pushed through in an effort to return to allow Mr Berg a proper career send off, but also because training towards a goal was good for rehab.

“But to be honest, my main goal was to be able to pick up my new baby and to be able to play with my kids in 10 years time,” he said.

He was also keen to show his children, Mila, Billie and Tally, that there was no need to be scared of the sea despite his injury.

“The ocean has given me my life, I met my wife through racing, I moved to Wollongong and the Gold Coast because of it and I’ve travelled the world with pro surfers being an Ironman,” he said.

“The last thing I want is for my girls to be scared of the thing that’s given me such an incredible life.”

To make Mr Berg’s farewell year extra special, Ms Sutcliffe came up with the idea for the family of five to travel the east coast in a caravan and setting up camp at various competition sites.

“We just wanted to make the most of it, because so good to see him racing again – from day one he said ‘If I can come back, I’m going to do what I love again’,” Ms Sutcliffe said.

“2016 was a big year, but I think it’s been our most fortunate year we’ve ever had because we had Wes making a full recovery, and a healthy baby – you couldn’t ask for more than that.”