A young surfer fears he will never walk again after a powerful wave hit him against a sandbar and broke his spine.
Johnny Konings, 31, suffered a fractured spine, a bent spinal cord, broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung after a freak fall on the first wave of his session at Duranbah Beach on the Queensland-New Wales border. South, last Tuesday.
Other surfers held the Kiwi native above the water’s surface before he was stretchered off the beach and airlifted to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
He has since undergone surgery, but is paralyzed from the waist down and has no sensation in his legs.
“The worst case scenario is that he is unlikely to walk again,” his fiancée Charlotte Gordon told Nine News.
Johnny Konings (pictured with his fiancee Charlotte Gordon) suffered a fractured spine, a bent spinal cord, broken ribs and a collapsed lung after a freak fall on the first wave of his session last Tuesday at Duranbah Beach in the border between Queensland and New South Wales.
The young couple, who got engaged during a ski trip in January this year, were due to celebrate their impending nuptials with family and friends across the ditch in New Zealand this week.
Instead, Mrs Gordon is by his side at Princess Alexandra Hospital, on a long road to recovery.
She wrote in a GoFundMe Fundraiser for the recovery of her fiancé that after the accident “life as we knew it has changed in an instant.”
“On his first wave of the day, he hit a sandbar and broke his back, bent his spinal cord, broke some ribs, and had a slight collapsed lung,” he wrote.
“A group of surfers, bodyboarders and lifeguards kept him on the surface and helped him get to shore, for whom we are eternally grateful and who truly will never be enough.”
“He was then treated by a team of paramedics and flown by Westpac rescue helicopter to Brisbane for surgery and to begin what will be the biggest journey of our lives.”
Ms Gordon revealed that although his surgery went “very well”, he is “currently paralyzed from the waist down with no sensation”.
“We remain incredibly positive and we’re going to put everything we can into this,” he continued.
The young couple, who got engaged in January this year, were due to celebrate their impending nuptials with family and friends across the ditch in New Zealand in recent days.
Johnny (pictured with his fiancee Charlottte) remains at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital paralyzed from the waist down.
Fighting back tears, Koning described the injury as “his worst nightmare.”
“I am very determined to get back on my feet,” he added.
The couple has been documenting the challenging recovery process on social media.
Ms Gordon described Monday as her “most difficult day yet”.
“There will be good days and bad days and we will continue to take it day by day,” he wrote on Instagram.
‘Tomorrow is a new day that will bring new advances, new firsts and new challenges.
“We both go to sleep every night dreaming and visualizing walking on the beach together.”
He GoFundMe page has almost raised $14,000 of its $100,000 goal.