Dad paralysed from neck down after freak accident during cold water dip

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A dad has been left paralysed from the neck down after a freak accident when he went for a cold water dip on New Year's Eve.Dan Richards, 35, went for a swim with partner Anna Thomas, her mum Jayne Trew and friend Sharon Nicholson at Langland Bay, Swansea.But when the gas engineer dived into a wave - like he had done hundreds of times before - his body rotated and the back of his head hit the sand, breaking his neck.Dan described a 'loud noise' and 'bright light' before he opened his eyes underwater and was unable to move his arms or legs, Wales Online reports.The dad-of-one managed to control his breathing until he was able to shout for help.Speaking of the horror accident, he said: "I was probably thigh deep in the water, just wading, and a wave was coming in, so the plan was to shallow dive into the base of the wave and come up the other side as normal, but as I've got into the wave, it has rotated me, and the back of my head hit the sand, and with my momentum going forward and the weight of the wave, it broke my neck, it was that easy, that quick."It was instant, there was a loud noise, bright light, and then I opened my eyes underwater and could just see my arms and legs but had no control over them.

It was surreal. It was kind of shock, but I was more focused on holding my breath because I couldn't use my arms or legs, and then the next wave rolled me over."It was just waiting until I could shout out.

I probably would have been more panicked if I was on my own, but it was knowing that help wasn't far away. The only reason I'm here is because we were out together.

They got me off the beach, and paramedics got me warm and on medication for the pain and I was in and out of consciousness until the helicopter came."Dan