SAN DIEGO -- A paraglider who broke his back when he crashed near Lakeside talked to 10News about his terrifying experience.

Experienced paraglider Mike Murphy vividly remembers when his body hit the ground.

"Ohhh, it was excruciating. I just thought oh my God, am I paralyzed?" Murphy told 10News.

“I knew I had broken my back and wrist. You could see my wrist. It was just like bent at a 90 degree angle," Murphy said.

Murphy was about 2 hours into his flight, getting ready to land just before he crashed not far from the lower Blossom Valley launch site.

Murphy told 10News he was simply flying to close to the ground when he caught a nasty pocket of air.

“Just shot me down like a cannon. It happened so fast, I had no chance to even attempt to make any corrections. I just smashed into the ground.'

Luckily for Murphy, his cell phone survived the crash. He used it to call 911.

"I told them, I am paraglider pilot, I crashed in the mountains and I need help," said Murphy.

And that he would need to be flown out.

Murphy said the minutes passed like hours.

"Once I was on that backboard lying down and I knew they were all around me and they weren't gonna let me go. I felt the weight of the world was off me at that point," said Murphy.

Soon after, Murphy was airlifted to Sharp Memorial in the Serra Mesa area, where surgeons repaired his wrist, broken in 4 places, with titanium plates and screws.

They also fitted him with a brace around his torso. Murphy will have to wear it for the next 3 months while his fractured vertebrae heals.

Murphy blames no one but himself for the crash, and chalks it up to pilot error.