Overview
- Josh Collette, who dove into the surf on Aug. 15, struck a compacted wall of sand near the shoreline and fractured two cervical vertebrae, causing severe spinal cord damage.
- Doctors at Providence Mission Hospital say Collette is largely ventilator-dependent and currently communicates by mouthing words that his wife reads.
- The child Collette tried to save and other children in the surf were brought safely out of the water by bystanders.
- The family has raised more than $221,000 through a GoFundMe while a specialized rehabilitation facility in Colorado is standing by to accept him once his fever and pneumonia are controlled.
- Experts and family cite El Niño-driven swells that reshape shorelines as a likely factor in the hidden sand 'wall,' and doctors say early prognosis is uncertain with recovery most likely to emerge in the first months of rehabilitation.