A TEENAGER has been left with a broken neck following a freak accident when he tried to cool himself down in the water.
Aiden Sloan, 19, plowed into a sandbar head-on while diving into a wave, his mom revealed.
He suffered the injuries while at the beach in New Hampshire on June 23, as reported by Fox News.
Aiden, an employee at a noodle bar within a casino, was rendered unconscious after accidentally crashing into a sandbar. His cousins vividly remembered the unsettling moment they became aware that something was amiss.
Family friend Jessica O’Brien said the teenager misjudged the depth of the water.
Michael Henry said it looked like Sloan’s eyes were “bulging” out of his face, as reported by the NBC affiliate WBTS-CD.
Gabriel Ruiz, Aiden’s other cousin, tried to bring him to shore and said it was like carrying a dead body.
“He was just, like, not moving at all,” he said.
Temperatures had soared to almost 90F on Monday when Aiden was trying to cool off in the water at Hampton Beach.
Aiden has been left with a broken neck and suffered a bruised spine and concussion.
Mom Melina Burton has updated social media users on her son’s condition after his accident.
In one post from June 27, she revealed Aiden couldn’t squeeze or move his fingers.
Aiden can slightly move his left knee but still had no movement on the right, and he can control both of his arms.
“He’s frustrated that all he can do is lay there,” she said.
Melina also revealed her son has suffered nightmares following the accident.
A nurse woke up Aiden after he feared he was drowning again, according to a GoFundMe post.
Melina revealed she’s hopeful Aiden would be moved out of the intensive care unit, and shared pictures of her son enjoying a lobster roll.
She said he was determined to feed himself two bites, which he managed to achieve.
Aiden has been enjoying ice cream and orange juice while in the hospital, according to his mom.
She told Fox News Digital it was “heartbreaking” to see him defeated.
Tributes have been paid to the teen, who has aspirations of becoming a chef.
“He is the funniest human you’ll ever meet,” O’Brien told the Portsmouth Herald.
