Plenty of teenagers in rural Australia love the chance to jump on their horses, motorbikes, or thrash around in the paddock basher.

With more freedom and more land than their cousins in the city, country kids are known to make the most of life in the bush.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 10 minutes 22 seconds 10 m Toby Canning speaks about his rehabilitation. Download 4.8 MB

Seventeen-year-old Toby Canning was doing just that, racing motorbikes in his home town of Katherine in the Northern Territory.

But at the end of a full day of excitement and adrenaline last July, his life changed.

"I remember hitting the jump and being in the air, but I don't really remember hitting the ground," he said.

"I then remember being on the ground, my body feeling numb and being a bit scared."

It was a freak accident that had him airlifted to Adelaide, where he spent weeks in intensive care.

Now, diagnosed as a C5 incomplete quadriplegic, Toby is recovering at the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

He said waking in hospital to discover he had limited use of his body was difficult to come to terms with.

"It was pretty devastating and it kind of crushed everything that I had going for me," he said.

"I knew that it would bring many more struggles."

Toby Canning has dreams of once again riding motorbikes the way he used to. ( Facebook )

Toby's family moved to South Australia from the Northern Territory to support him.

His mother Kerri and older sister Jessica have spent the last six months since the accident beside his bed.

"Really we're all just wanting to keep him in good spirits and help him get through," Jessica said.

"We've had to change our life paths, I suppose, but we've done well to come together and do the right thing by Toby."

Toby has regained significant movement in his upper torso, beyond what was expected by medical staff treating him.

"My right arm is pretty good with a little bit of finger movement in my right hand," Toby said.

"All the muscles in that arm work. My wrist is good.

"In my left arm, I don't have triceps and my wrist is a lot weaker."

Toby had been racing motorbikes since he was eight years old, making his confinement to a wheelchair a difficult adjustment.

But despite his predicament and his young age, he has the vision to see there is a future out there for him.

"You've always got to keep your head up and think positive, because it's the only way to move forward," he said.

"If I was ever given the chance to get back on a bike, or if I was capable, I would."

You can follow Toby Canning's progress via his support page.