THIS is the wave that changed Ben Cryan's life forever.

Since falling from the 3.5m wall of water at Micronesian surfing hotspot Pohnpei almost a year ago, Cryan has endured 28 operations, three full blood transfusions, two strokes, kidney failure and vision loss. Many of his doctors and specialists say they have never had a patient so sick and have labelled his survival miraculous.

He's due to have a kidney transplant in March in a live organ donation from his mum, Jackie. He hopes it's the last in a long line of medical hurdles that have seen him on three emergency flights and his family have the last rites performed on him.

On January 21 last year the Port Melbourne civil engineer and avid surfer was enjoying some of the best waves of his life when he fell on to a coral reef, tearing his buttocks and anus. He was taken to a local hospital and operated on to close the wound, but despite being told all was fine, his life was at risk.

At his dad Peter's insistence, Cryan was on a flight to The Alfred within 48 hours, but over Queensland septic shock set in and he was rushed to Cairns Base Hospital. He had contracted the rare necrotising fasciitis, NF or commonly known as the flesh-eating disease, from the coral. It had poisoned his entire body. Doctors told his family he would not have survived another hour if the plane had not landed in Cairns.

Over the next fortnight he had major bowel surgery and was operated on twice a day to remove dead and infected tissue. The severity of the sepsis sent his kidneys into shock and they shut down. Although expected to return to normal they have not, meaning three six-hour sessions of dialysis a week for Cryan.

"That's 18 hours a week. I tell people it's my new part-time job," he jokes.

A further complication at the time was Cyclone Yasi, which wreaked havoc over Queensland. Cairns Base Hospital was evacuated. Cryan was taken by the Defence Force's intensive-care unit Starlifter to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital.

He spent three weeks there undergoing more life-saving operations, but he developed blood clots in his arm and neck and was put on a blood-thinning drug.

March 4 was Cryan's 32nd birthday and he was flown home to Melbourne, albeit to The Alfred. The next day he was operated on to remove more NF-affected tissue but that night suffered seizures and was rushed to the ICU.

CT scans showed no signs of stroke, but four days later he had a severe stroke, requiring even more surgery and leaving him with limited vision in his left eye.

Two months later Cryan was moved to The Alfred's rehabilitation unit in Caulfield, but his constantly high blood pressure led to another stroke and he was rushed back to The Alfred.

He's been home for several months now, but the strokes have left Cryan fearful of more.

It's been a long road emotionally. While he's thankful to be alive and is buoyed by the love and support of family and friends, he split with his girlfriend in May, craves to drive again, surf again, and work a full day. And, restricted to a litre of fluid a day because of his kidneys, to have regular beers with his mates.

"It's nearly 12 months since the accident and it's still surreal," Cryan says, "but I've got nothing to gain from looking back. I'm trying to look to the future.

"That said, I don't think the whole situation has hit me. I fell off my board the wrong way on a certain part of the reef. If I'd fallen off 10m further along I might not have hit that piece of coral or in the same spot. I might have scratched my stomach or busted my knee.

"But I can look back and say people get hit by trams crossing the road, or by lightning on the golf course, so when your time's up, your time's up -- and when it's not, you've just got to treasure every day you're alive."

Cryan hopes to write a book or pursue the motivational speaking circuit, but for now wants to raise awareness about organ donation. He says most people are shocked to learn that registering consent with the Australian Organ Donor Register is not enough, because that can be overridden by family.

"If you were in a crash tonight, they'd ring your next of kin. When you're on life support, they've got to know within a couple of hours whether they can use your organs, so even if you've ticked the boxes on your licence you still need family to agree. There's subsequent forms you need to fill out to give that overriding authority. If I wasn't able to get the live donation from mum, I'd be waiting five or six years for a deceased organ.

"Transplants and donation rates here are some of the lowest in the world. It's not right. There's a girl next to me at dialysis who's 17 and waiting for a heart. She doesn't know when she's going to get one. That poor girl."

donatelife.gov.au

Originally published as Hit by a tidal wave of trauma