After the accident, late at night, he finally regained consciousness.
He opened his eyes. He was in the hospital and in terrible pain. He found himself in A&E with tubes in his mouth, needles and IV drips in both arms, a breathing mask on his face, wires monitoring every function and a nurse hovering over him.
He realised that he was obviously in a life-threatening situation. The nurse was kind and attractive.
She gave him a serious look, straight into his eyes, then spoke to him slowly, clearly enunciating each word.
"You may not feel anything from the waist down."
Somehow, he managed to mumble a response.