OTTAWA -- David Spacek was on his way home from the gym on Dec. 8, 2019, when he suddenly lost control of his vehicle, jumped a culvert and rolled his car multiple times.

He landed in a nearby ditch on County Road 16 in Fournier, Ont., about an hour east of Ottawa, where he was later found by some local farmers who called for help.

Spacek, 22, says he was stuck in the car for 45 minutes before firefighters arrived with the Jaws of Life. As they stared to free Spacek, who worked for the township’s environmental and waste department, they realized he was one of their co-workers. Most of the emergency crew members were Spacek’s friends.

He was rushed to hospital with numerous injuries including perforated intestines, broken nose and teeth, and fractures to his left leg. Worst of all, his spinal cord was compromised.

Doctors spent eight hours in surgery fusing seven of his vertebrae to stabilize and decompress his spine. After four surgeries in three days, he was put into a medically-induced coma for six days. He then went on to spend four weeks in the trauma unit.

Spacek also suffered a stroke, which his family thinks could be the reason he lost control of his car. That hasn’t been proven as the cause.

“I kept pinching myself to see if I would wake up,” said Isabelle Bourdon, Spacek’s girlfriend. She said she is grateful to still have him by her side.

Spacek told CTV News Ottawa through an Instagram message that the cause of the car crash is still unknown.

“I don’t remember anything and the doctor said because of the stroke, there’s no point in trying to as I will probably never remember,” said Spacek.

He is currently in rehab at the Ottawa General Hospital, working as hard as he can to recover, Bourdon said. “The doctors have been extremely impressed with all the progress he has been making and are optimistic about his future.”

She has set up a GoFundMe page in efforts to raise money to continue Spacek’s rehab after his insurance runs out.

“We are from a small community and the support we have received from it, I think has been making this just a bit easier,” she said.

Spacek said he’s “been progressing at a nice pace so far.”