Kiwi surfer Maz Quinn is recovering in hospital, after suffering spinal injuries in an accident at Māhia beach, Hawke's Bay.
On social media, Quinn, 46, has detailed the experience, which left him in intensive care.
He was unable to walk and needed help from onlookers, before he could receive medical attention.
"Had a fall on a solid wave in Māhia yesterday, which picked me up and drove me into the rocky ledge bottom," he wrote on Instagram.
"Got washed in and couldn't walk up [the] beach. Had to crawl for 20 minutes, as had to go so slow, as pain was intense.
"Luckily, a guy Pat saw me, came to help and even luckier an off-duty paramedic was in the carpark.
"In the end, four broken ribs and multiple broken transverse processors, little bones at base of spine."
Before his retirement in 2009, Quinn was the first Kiwi to win a World Surf League qualifying series event in France in 1999.
At home, Quinn won New Zealand's national title four times.
