San Clemente father of 5 paralyzed after diving into ocean to save boy

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (KABC) -- A hospital room is not how Josh and Rose Collette planned to spend the days leading up to their 20th wedding anniversary.

However, their bond has never been tighter.

"This is my favorite guy and he knows that," Rose said. "Honestly, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else than right here with him."

Josh is recovering at Providence Mission Hospital after suffering a severe spinal cord injury that's left him paralyzed from the neck down.

"It's hard if you can't breathe. But other than it's bearable," he said.

Rose added they never anticipated their lives changing like this.

The father of five visited Riviera Beach in San Clemente with his family on Aug. 15th.

It's something Rose said they did often.

"He had told me when we first got there that the beach looked very different that day," she said.

Josh started paying close attention to the water.

A little later he witnessed a boy in distress and ran toward the water.

"He dove in and it was the same spot he had already gone in, so he had already been in there maybe 30 minutes or less earlier," Rose said.

When he didn't come up right away, she knew something was wrong.

"He basically said he felt like he hit a wall. The sand had changed because of the rip current, and so when he dove in he knew exactly what happened. There was a pile of rocks," Rose said.

Josh and the boy he was trying to save were both pulled from the water.

This accident is another reminder of how dangerous the ocean can be.

A GoFundMe page is raising money to transfer Josh to a rehabilitation hospital in Denver.

Through his wife, Josh has this advice for anyone going into the ocean.

"He said don't jump, run into the water as far as you can and swim from there," Rose said.