Alexander Thomas Santauro, 22, was high on a cocktail of prescription anxiety drugs and alcohol on the morning of June 15 last year when he got behind the wheel of his white Holden Commodore and drove north on Franklin Avenue.

He was about 150m south of Park Road when the crash occurred. Both Santauro and the victim were able to get out of the wreckage, however the victim was taken to hospital with serious leg injuries.

Santauro was found with multiple tablets wrapped up and hidden inside a cigarette packet, at which time he confessed to having taken the drugs before driving.

"I must have blacked out as all I can remember was travelling south on Franklin Avenue, but I can't recall the impact," he told police of the crash.

He later admitted to having taken 4mg of Xanax, 2mg of Clonazepam and six shots of Vodka and Ouzo before driving.

Santauro was charged with multiple offences including dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, to which he pleaded guilty in Wollongong Local Court in October.

At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, solicitor Ron Davis said Santauro had completed an intensive, live-in rehabilitation program for drug and alcohol dependence and had remained clean but for one brief relapse.

The court heard Santauro had been in a troubling part of his life at the time of the offence with the recent death of both his brother and step-father, which had led to him delving into drugs to cope with the loss.

Magistrate Jillian Kiely praised Santauro's efforts to rehabilitate himself, noting he had undertaken a court-appointed treatment program "with enthusiasm".

"He's a young man at a crossroads - he seems to have taken the right turn," she said.

"He's made a very significant attempt at rehabilitation."

She sentenced Santauro to a six-month, community-based intensive corrections order which included a condition that he not drink alcohol or take drugs and keep receiving treatment.

Santauro's driver's licence was also disqualified for a further six months.