A Swansea man is in hospital on the other side of the world being treated for serious injuries after an accident whilst surfing. Nigel Scozzi suffered a critical spinal cord accident whilst surfing in Sydney in March earlier this year.
The dad of two spent spent five weeks in ICU and is now in the spinal ward of Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, working hard on his rehabilitation for the remainder of the year. He had been surving with his son Jyne when he suffered the horrific accident.
Mr Scozzi, a dad-of-two, was brought up in Mumbles, originally from Caswell, and living on the beach he fell in love with surfing, with it becoming part of his lifestyle and growing up. The former Bishop Gore student decided to move Down Under back around 32 years ago, and since 1989 has taught at Shore School as head of Geography and student mentor and as the MIC of Surf Life Saving. The now 60-year-old went to the country for a year in between his A-Levels and university, before attending university and teaching at Penlan Boys' School deciding to move to Australia for good. Get Swansea stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
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His sister, Daniella Scozzi, explained how the accident happened as her brother was trying to get out of the water. She said: "He was surfing with his son Jye, and he said to him 'I am going out for half an hour now'. But as he was coming out, the undercurrent pulled him under and he banged his head against the sandbar underneath the water.
"The sandbar snapped his neck but he also had a heart attack from shock. I don't know how he even got to shore, but there was a guy on the beach who gave him CPR. He was basically dead for five minutes. Also luckily for him, there was an ambulance at the beach on a break, so they took him straight to North Sydney Hospital.
"He was in a very bad way for five or six weeks in a coma. One of his lungs collapsed, he had septicaemia - he was really unwell. Initially I was really upset, but it kind of feels surreal and upsetting at the same time. Being so far away, it almost feels as if it hasn't happened, but at the same time I get really upset because I think of how active he is and what a healthy person he is and he's in a hospital bed at the moment and can't move.
"I know how hard this is going to hit him mentally. From what I can gather at the moment he has very little movement in his arms, and he is basically paralysed from the nipple down at the moment. He was in the ICU for about six to eight weeks, and then they moved him to the spinal ward and this past week they have moved him to the rehab facility. Only his wife Danielle has really been allowed to see him, there are very strict restrictions on who can go in and when."
A fundraiser has now begun to ensure Mr Scozzi can return home to a significantly modified house that will accommodate his wheelchair and pay for his ongoing care, medical expenses, occupational and physiotherapy and transport needs. It has so far raised $74,782 Australian dollars, equivalent to £41,870 with a goal of raising $400,000. If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe page, you can do so by clicking here.
Addressing the fundraiser, Ms Scozzi added: "I'm getting quite emotional thinking about it now. It goes to show what a person he is. Most people are struggling financially at the moment - Australia, UK, wherever you are, so for that amount of money to be raised is just amazing to think that many people care that much about him. I can't thank people enough for that. It's not like in this country where you get a lot of help, over there you have insurances and a lot of it you have to pay for yourself. The support from people is unreal, it's really heartwarming."
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