It was the end-of-summer beach day in south San Clemente, a chance to enjoy the sand and surf before school got back in session.
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But the life-changing day turned in an instant as an 8-year-old struggled in the surf at Riviera Beach, family friend Josh Collette quickly jumping in to help.
A rip current had shifted the sand and filled in an area that just minutes earlier was deep. As Collette dove into the water to rescue the boy, he said his head hit the ocean floor, breaking his neck and damaging his spinal cord.
Collette, a San Clemente father of five children spanning ages 18 to 9, is now facing an uncertain future — a severe, high-level spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed and in the hospital as doctors try and determine if he will be able to move his body again, family said.
From his hospital bed, Collette, 42, mouthed words that his wife Rose interpreted for a video shared on social media.
Josh Collette, a San Clemente father of five kids, is now facing an uncertain future, a high-level spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed. (Photo couresty of Collette family)
Josh Collette, a San Clemente father of five kids, is now facing an uncertain future, a high-level spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed. (Photo couresty of Collette family)
Josh Collette, a San Clemente father of five kids, is now facing an uncertain future, a high-level spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed. (Photo couresty of Collette family)
Josh Collette, a San Clemente father of five kids, is now facing an uncertain future, a high-level spinal cord injury that has left him paralyzed. (Photo couresty of Collette family)
“I need to update everyone, and tell everyone thank you. This is hard. It’s bearable because I’m held up by your love,” he whispered, his wife translating. “Things always work out for me. I don’t know how, I’m sure things will be so different.”
He only loses the “dumb things like money, surfing and hobbies,” he said. But keeps the important things: his family and kids.
“And my heart is full of love while I was trying to help someone else,” he said.
Collette grew up in Northern California, surfing Santa Cruz and on his school’s swim team through his younger years.
He and his wife, Rose, brought their family of five to San Clemente three years ago, with Collette running a solar supply company and the sole provider for the family.
After hitting the sandbar, the mother of the boy Collette was trying to help was next to Collette and immediately noticed something was wrong as Collette floated on the ocean’s surface, family said. She called for help and pulled him out of the water.
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He was conscious and could mouth words to his wife, telling her he couldn’t move and was having trouble breathing.
“I need you to be my breath for me,” he told her, his wife administering CPR until lifeguards arrived.
Collette, in the video, recounted how the ocean conditions quickly changed.
“This is on me, it was my choice. The sand moved, I was just in the water and it was deep. And I needed to act quickly so I jumped in and I should not have,” he said.
Family, friends and church supporters have been helping with food and transporting the kids to their first days of school this week.
A fundraising effort on GoFundMe is underway as the family faces mounting medical costs. Collette called the San Clemente community special, thanking everyone for their support.
“I’m a fighter and I’ll do everything I can if I can stay alive, keep my kids and my faith,” he said. “Then this will be a blessing.”
He added one request: “And a Slurpee would be nice,” finding the strength to smile.
“I know there’s so much happening I can’t see, but I can feel it,” he said. “I feel the love, thank you.”
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