Former rugby league coach left paralysed after suffering freak accident while bodyboarding

FORMER St Helens coach Daniel Anderson was left paralysed after suffering a freak accident while bodysurfing.

Anderson said he is lucky to be alive after he went into cardiac arrest and was dragged from the water by two off-duty paramedics who happened to be on the beach.

He said of the incident: "I'm very lucky the paramedics were there.

"I was obviously in a bad way. If they weren't there, who knows how it would have finished up."

The Aussie is still recovering from the incident, which happened in December on the Central Coast in New South Wales, Australia.

He has been classified as an incomplete quadriplegic after suffering severe compression of his spinal cord.

And Anderson, 56, revealed he has made progress, including feeling movements in his hands and feet.

He told the : "Incomplete means that you can get little bits back but some things you never can.

"No one can tell you categorically what, if any, movement you get back, but after four days I was wiggling my big toe.

"Right now I need assistance with everything - brushing my teeth, feeding, bathing, having a coffee.

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"I've got slight movement in my right hand. Three weeks ago I couldn't do that. It's progress.

"You've got to learn how to use muscles again.

"You've got to learn to try to do the ordinary things in everyday life. Getting in and out of bed or picking up a sandwich. I still can't feed myself but that's one of many goals I've got.

"I want to try to stand. But there's no long-term prognosis. They can't tell where it's going to finish. It's a long road."

Anderson won the League Leaders Shield, Super League Grand Final and Challenge Cup treble in 2006 with St Helens.

He also guided Saints to the Grand Final in 2007 and 2008 and won the Challenge Cup in 2007 and 2008 and the World Club Challenge in 2007. He was also won BBC Sports Personality's Coach of the Year award.