SAN DIEGO -- La Jolla High School senior Hollis Cameron had an unquenchable hunger for adventure, but now looks at life quite differently.
"I have always been a crazy kid. I always wanted to go have fun, surf the biggest wave, skate the biggest hill," Cameron said.
Nearly one year ago, Cameron broke his neck while rolling down a hill inside a trash can. He volunteered to help a friend make a video for a Spanish class assignment.
"He called me up and said we are going to do a bunch of stupid stuff and we'll dub over it in Spanish later," Cameron said.
Cameron slipped inside a trash can and rolled down a steep hill.
"I just kept going, bounced up in the air once, came down, bounced up a second time, came down the third time. I bounced up and I felt like I was really high, head-over-heels in the air," Cameron said.
When the trash can stopped, Cameron realized the extent of his injuries.
"I could feel the ice plant on my face, but I couldn't feel anything else," he said.
Doctors didn't hold out much hope that Cameron would walk again.
"He had a fracture and it was on the third and fourth vertebra, the smaller joints on the back of the spine and the fourth vertebra was also broken. I didn't think he was going to able to walk," Scripps spine surgeon Dr. Tim Peppers said.
Trauma doctors had already stabilized Cameron's spine with a halo. Then, he underwent surgery.
"We put in some screws and small rods to stabilize the fracture and keep his bones from moving," Peppers said.
"The fracture occurred on the left side and that allowed the upper part here to rotate forward," he said.
In the following months, Cameron worked hard to regain what he had lost. His friends documented his progress in a video.
The video documentary captured Cameron's' grueling therapy and amazing recovery.
His recovery continues to amaze doctors.
"He's walking pretty well, he's using a cane, but I think he's done more than I ever thought he was going to be able to do," Peppers said.
His left arm, hip and leg are still healing.
"I'm a medical miracle," Cameron said.
The daredevil side of Cameron has toned down. He said he realizes his outcome could have been very different, but now he hopes his story will encourage other risk-takers not to take the plunge.
"For all the kids out there, turn-off your TV, slow down and enjoy life," Cameron advised.
Cameron will graduate from La Jolla High School in June.
The video documenting his accident and recovery recently won first place in the non-fiction/high school category in "Best Fest" -- a student film festival for San Diego high school and college students.
Click Here To Watch Cameron's Documentary (11 min.) Cameron said he plans to pursue a career in film-making.
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