Jay Thomas was headed down the line on a wave, just as another surfer was paddling out, past the breaking waves.

“He didn’t know whether to slow down and let the guy under the wave, or to speed up and try to pass him,” his brother James says.

In a split second decision, Jay dived forward – head first – to miss the surfer.

Jay had been surfing for about 10 years. He knows the ocean.

But the sand beneath the ocean’s surface can change so quickly. It can be hard to know how shallow it is, or where a sandbar has formed.

He lay face down in the water, unable to move.

“All he could think was ‘dude, roll me over. I can’t move my arms’,” James says, retelling his brother’s story of that fateful day about two months ago.

The surfer who he nearly collided with came over to him, and rolled his limp body over.

“Hey, are you OK?” Jay asked the surfer, at first not thinking of his own devastating condition.

A freak accident:

Spinal cord injuries happen far too often along the coast each year. You may not hear about them much because medical privacy laws don’t allow us to gather specific numbers on how many people are treated – but they happen.

Days and weeks after Jay was taken to the hospital after sustaining the C-6 injury – leaving him paralyzed with only movement from his chest up, and no use of his hands – the surf community was shocked.

Friends who surfed with him at Blackies talked about how young he is, at 32, to be handed such a blow – but also how positive he’s been through it all.

“He’s got good days and bad days, just like everyone else. He’s thinking ahead, as far as what’s coming up and the living situation,” says James, 28. “You sort of have to expect the worst, and hope for the best.”

James said they are the type of surfers who always play it safe. That day on March 2 wasn’t Jay’s first day out; it wasn’t double overhead surf.

“It was just a freak accident. It just happened to be on his shoulders, so to speak,” James said.

Looking forward, James said he can only hope that they can continue to do all the things they talked about in the past.

“I definitely want to be able to surf with Jay again, whether he’s lying down or standing up, I want to be able to go do the surf trips we’ve talked about,” James said. “This is just a speed bump.”

They will surf again:

There’s a group of surfers so dedicated to the sport, something like not being able to move their limbs isn’t going to stop them.

Jay’s accident is an eye opener for many — that this can happen to any of us who paddle out, on any given day.

A group of surfers with Life Rolls On – many who have gone through what Jay will soon be facing as he moves forward with life in a wheelchair – will be out at Bolsa Chica tower 21 on May 3 to take some waves for a program called “They Will Surf Again.”

James has signed up to volunteer, but whether Jay will be able to make it is still unknown.

Organizers are expecting this to be their biggest event at Bolsa, and it’s the first stop of a tour that goes to various beaches around the nation to help paralyzed surfers catch some waves.

They already have 25 surfers signed up, with 90 volunteers. They welcome anyone who wants to come down to surf or help, or those who just want to come check it out.

Among the surfers will be Nathan Gocke, an employee at Fuel TV who suffered a similar injury as Jay in Hermosa Beach about a year ago. Life Rolls On is doing a documentary on his progress, and this will be his first time back in the water.

For those who don’t know about Life Rolls On, it was founded by Jesse Billauer, a well-known surfer who also suffered a spinal cord injury while taking on waves.

Wooden planks will be set on the sand so those in wheelchairs will have easy access to the water, and at least seven volunteers will surround the paralyzed surfers to help them back on the board if the waves take them down.

Kris Nakamura, executive director of Life Rolls On, says people’s first reaction to getting back on board is typically: “are you crazy? How am I going to do that?”

“It’s really about getting to realize what’s possible,” she said.

Patrick Ivison, a Life Rolls On surfer who started surfing about four years ago, even made his surf team at his high school.

And while it’s too soon for Jay to get back in the water – doctors recommend about a year –I have no doubt we’ll be seeing him out there next year taking some waves.

More information:

Life Rolls On:

Life Rolls On is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 that is a grass-roots resource that provides hope and is an advocate on behalf of young people whose lives have been affected by spinal cord injury.

More info: www.liferollson.org

Helping Jay:

Friends and family are putting together two fund-raisers to help Jay as he adjusts to his new life, and to help with medical costs.

Surf-a-than: Dano of Dano surfboards will surf for two hours, catching as many waves as he can in that time period. Sponsors will sign up agreeing to give a dollar amount for every wave he catches within those two hours. It will happen on May 12 at Blackies, thought the date and spot could change depending on the conditions. For more info, contact 949 515-9455.

Benefit concert: A concert will be held at the House of Blues in Anaheim on May 18, with Social Distortion, The Vandals, The Black Tibetans and The Japanese Motors performing.

Tickets are $40. It starts at 7:30 p.m., and is open to all ages. For updates on Jay’s recovery or to donate, go to jaysroadtorecovery.blogspot.com.

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