"I thought I was going to die."
That's how a 16-year-old teenager has described the moment a tornado tore through his sleepout in Paraparaumu on Tuesday.
Rhiley Stevens was impaled after his cabin was lifted into the air and collapsed back on top of him.
Wheelchair-bound and still in hospital, Rhiley surveys his injuries.
"There's one here and one further down here, the one down below is a lot more severe. This is the one where the glass went in and punctured my lung."
Security footage from a nearby home during the tornado shows just how strong the twister was.
Rhiley said he woke up to his room shaking intensely.
"The whole thing just lifted up. I was thrown across the room. There was glass that was shattered and that must've been when I was stabbed by glass."
Adrenaline pumping, he ran towards the main house where his mum Jade was waiting.
"As soon as I saw him, there was just so much blood. I knew I had to get help immediately so I rang the ambulance."
"I was definitely scared for my life," Rhiley added.
He was rushed to Wellington Hospital and taken into surgery.
"I was honestly thinking I hope he was going to survive. I didn't know what to think, I just hoped he would survive," said Jade.
A small piece of is all that's left of the glass that was lodged in Rhiley's chest - a momento of his survival.
"It could've been a lot worse I could've died," he said.
"It's been really tough but I'm so glad he's okay now," Jade told Newshub.
And though he no longer has a bedroom to go back to, he's looking forward to getting out of hospital.
"To be honest I'm looking forward to getting back home and back to my drums."
Rhiley's likely to get out on Friday, but doctors have asked he takes it easy on the drum set.
