CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: A terrible accident left Cameron Irwin, a quadriplegic. But the incredibly the keen surfer found a way to get back on the waves. And the Tasmanian recently tackled one of the world's most famous breaks with the help of some mates.

Michael Atkin reports.

MICHAEL ATKIN, REPORTER: Cameron Irwin is getting ready for a surf. It's the start of a struggle that gets harder the closer he gets to the waves. The 29-year-old Tasmanian is a quadriplegic.

CAMERON IRWIN: The catching of the wave by myself is the bit that really blows me out. Just 'cause I'm unable to paddle because of my level of injury. I can't lift my head off the surfboard.

MICHAEL ATKIN: That would usually mean staying well away from the swell. But Cameron Irwin was never going to let his life be confined to a wheelchair.

CAMERON IRWIN: I'm probably one of the best or better quads that you'll sort of find, like, my hands have come back to pretty much 100 per cent, they're just not quite as strong as they used to be.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Cameron Irwin became a quadriplegic six years ago when he was on a working holiday in Western Australia. With a few drinks under his belt, he jumped into the shallow end of the swimming pool.

CAMERON IRWIN: I remember hitting the bottom, then I remember going, "Oh, s**t, I just broke my neck." And, yeah, so I was in the pool and had to sorta get myself to the edge and then wait for the friends that I was with to notice that there was something wrong.

MICHAEL ATKIN: He was rushed to a Perth hospital where a specialist delivered the devastating news. He'd never walk again.

CAMERON IRWIN: It was hectic. It was life-shattering really. I had a feeling that I wasn't gonna walk anyways, but for him just to say it so bluntly, it was pretty hard.

JAN JACK: It was ... (sighs) ... it was the worst call I could've ever had. Um, you know, he said, "Mum, I've broken my neck and I won't walk again," you know, and that was his words, but he said, "It's all good, Mum, though, it's all good."

MICHAEL ATKIN: It was the start of a painful rehabilitation process.

CAMERON IRWIN: I had a halo prays bolted to my head and five kilos was hung off it and I just had to stare at the roof for six weeks. So that was pretty, that was pretty - yeah, pretty intense. You leave your dignity at the door when you go into hospital with something like that.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Despite the pain, he was determined to get back into the surf.

HAYLEY JACK: So much rehab and exercise in the pool. Back in the pool and swimming laps, ready to get back in the water. I mean, he wanted to do it.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Did you also think he was a bit crazy?

HAYLEY JACK: I did. I was worried. I'm not gonna lie.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Local surfboard shaper Nick Stranger designed a board just for Cameron. It's wider and longer than regular boards and features a secret weapon.

???: Water's drawn across the bottom of the board and in through these grates, which is the intake. It's fed - it's sucked in by impellers which are embedded in the motor, then blasted out the back which gives it thrust.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Now Cam Irwin is picking for the trip of a lifetime. With a group of 30 friends, he wants to surf the world-renowned waves at Cloudbreak in Fiji.

CAMERON IRWIN: They recently just had the Volcom Fiji Pro over there where Kelly Slater won. Pretty much one of the best waves in the world. And, yeah, really looking forward to hopefully surfing it nice and small.

FRIEND: We take off all the time and do surf trips, but this is the first one, now that he's independent with the surfboard, that he can actually come along and we get that opportunity just to be in the line-up with him and share waves. Yeah, it's gonna be unreal, for sure.

MICHAEL ATKIN: But that unreal experience will also be his biggest challenge so far.

And it comes with some major risks.

CAMERON IRWIN: I will take a really thin wetsuit, booties, lifejacket. Yeah, just things just to protect me from the reef and I suppose to stop me from drowning.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Why have you done something like that where you are taking risks without going to see a doctor?

CAMERON IRWIN: Um, oh, realistically they're not gonna give me any positive sort of feedback and fell me to do these things.

RORY SANDERS: He's got really not much else to lose. Like, he's just gonna keep charging and doing what he does and making the most out of the situation that he's been dealt.

MICHAEL ATKIN: For over a week, Cam Irwin and his crew chased waves on the Fijian island of Nomotu. It took some improvising to reach the water. A makeshift ramp and a two-man chairlift got him to the boat.

This is Cam, claiming his first wave of the trip. But it didn't all go to plan. In three foot swells, Cam was hit hard and knocked from his board. He scrambled to get back on and away from the powerful white water. His friends came to his rescue, arriving on the next wave.

CAMERON IRWIN: Once I did hit the reef, I sort of went, "Yeah, that's enough. I've caught a wave at Cloudbreak." I can say it's done and dusted, tick it off the list and we'll go surf somewhere a little bit more user-friendly.

MICHAEL ATKIN: Cameron Irwin knows it would be much safer to stop taking risks, but he's not interested in the quiet life.

CAMERON IRWIN: You've gotta get out there and live, really, don't you? It's just - it's what life's meant to be. To go out, have fun, see what limits there are, see if you can get past them. Just take life on, I guess.

CHRIS UHLMANN: Michael Atkin reporting.