A 19-year-old San Diego State University student is facing a life-altering recovery after a swimming accident at Pacific Beach left him paralyzed from the chest down.

Ethan McCoy, an aspiring physical therapist who had been training for an Ironman competition next year, was swimming with friends near Crystal Pier on Aug. 30 when the accident occurred.

“He wasn’t too far out. He caught a bad wave. He remembers impacting the sandbar and remembers lying in the water. He couldn't breathe, because he was face down," said Jim McCoy, Ethan's father.

Ethan's friends pulled him from the water and got help. At the hospital, he underwent surgery for three shattered vertebrae in his neck. His spinal cord was partially severed, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

"You can see it in his face.

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