Overview

• Matthew Haylett, 18, was discharged from Fiona Stanley Hospital after five months of rehabilitation and walked out to farewell staff.
• He was injured in March when he dived into shallow water at Mullaloo Beach and hit a sandbank, with a friend pulling him to shore.
• After spinal surgery at Royal Perth Hospital, he spent a month paralysed from the neck down and was warned he might never walk again.
• Therapy included up to a dozen gym sessions each week and pool work, and he drew encouragement from a visit by sandbank-injury survivor Thomas Davison.
• He will complete eight weeks of home-based rehabilitation with regular hospital appointments and hopes to return to his Western Power apprenticeship, driving and sport.