A California father who broke his neck after diving into the ocean to help two children caught in a rip current says he would make the same choice again.
Josh Collette, 42, was at Riviera Beach in San Clemente with his family on Aug. 15 when he saw two children struggling in the water, according to CBS News Los Angeles.
Collette, a father of five who swims and surfs, went into the ocean to help. Both children ultimately made it out safely.
Collette did not. He dove headfirst into the water and struck a wall of sand, breaking his neck and severely damaging his spinal cord.
Into the Water
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Collette told CBS that he did not realize the sand had built up beneath the water before he dove.
“I didn’t realize there was a wall of sand there,” Collette said, communicating from his hospital bed with help from his wife, Rose, who read his lips.
He struck the sand headfirst.
Collette said he immediately knew he was in serious trouble. Unable to breathe, he recalled thinking that he was dying before other people pulled him from the water.
Rose began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“I broke my neck. I cannot breathe,” she recalled her husband telling her.
The Damage
Doctors determined that Collette had broken two vertebrae and severely damaged his spinal cord.
He told CBS that he cannot feel anything below his shoulders.
The accident came three days before his brother Craig created a GoFundMe to help the family with medical expenses, long-term therapy, and other costs.
Craig had already turned to Facebook on the day of the accident, asking people to pray for his brother after what he described at the time as a serious neck injury at the beach.
The fundraiser has since collected more than $200,000 for Collette and his family.
Same Choice
Rose told CBS that her husband has always been someone who wants to help others.
“He has always loved to save the day,” she said. “He is our hero.”
The injury has left Collette facing an uncertain recovery, but it has not changed what he thinks about going into the water that day.
Asked whether he would do it again, Collette said he would.
The two children he went into the ocean to help made it out safely.