A surfer has received an outpouring of support from his community after being paralyzed while trying to rescue a child at a San Clemente Beach.
Josh Collette, 42, grew up in Northern California and cut his teeth surfing in Santa Cruz, but moved to San Clemente three years ago with his wife Rose and five children. On August 15th, the Collettes were visiting Riviera Beach when Josh saw an eight-year-old boy struggling in a rip current and without hesitation dove into the ocean to help him.
However, though Collette had been swimming in the same area less than 30 minutes earlier, the spot was shallower than he anticipated. Josh hit his head on the bottom and broke his neck. “He basically said he felt like he hit a wall,” Rose told ABC 7. “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.”…