On a secluded beach in South Africa, waves are breaking on a beautiful white sand beach. Me and my friend Seth were looking down from the top of a mountain when we decided we needed to go see this beach. We started walking through a jungle. I didn’t know then how lucky I was to be able to walk down that mountain. But soon life would teach me. I was about to learn the biggest lesson in my life.

A few days after going to the beach I board the plane to have a holiday in Florida. I am excited to see a new place, getting on a sixteen hour flight with my family. I leave home excited and happy. Sixteen hours later we landed and went to our hotel in clear water.

The plane landed at 7 am but I wasn’t tired. Driving to the hotel seeing all the palm trees and blue sky seeing how beautiful. Finally, we get to the hotel and unpack our stuff. Our plan was to go have a picnic on the beach the next day. My sister Lex and I and her husband Ty went to the store to buy food for the picnic. As we were walking back from the store we get to a five-lane road. We press the traffic light and four cars stop. it says we are now permitted to walk. As I get past the fourth lane a speeding SUV hits me. That's when my life changed forever.

I woke up on top of a tall mountain. I see a big beautiful angel next to me. I realized that it was my beloved niece Olivia who had recently passed away from a brain tumor. She was so excited to see me and she said I'm so happy to see you. I have been waiting here for you for so long. I'm sorry that you are here but I am so happy to see you. She hugged me and I looked down and still wasn't sure where I was. I could see fields and fields of very beautiful flowers that I had never seen before. Each one was so beautiful. I realized that this is heaven. This is God's kingdom. It had amazing energy. The energy was so alive that you could not help but feel happy. I saw the ocean on the side. Big beautiful blue water. And then Olivia said let me show you around. We walked down the mountain, through the fields of beautiful flowers. Each flower was unique. She explained to me how each angel is different too. Some angels are healing angels, some angels look after humans, some angels look after plants or animals. She told me how each angel has a purpose. Some play music, some watch over humans and prevent evil from harming them. Olivia showed me around heaven, it was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Everything was light and so amazing. Even each tree was unique. The smells were amazing too. I did not have a single ounce of fear. I knew that God is with me and that everything would be okay. I was really happy to be there and to see my niece again. And then we were walking through a garden of trees when she turned to me and said that someone wants to speak to me. We walked to a large building which is so hard to describe. It was very beautiful and had stairs leading up to it. We climbed up the stairs and got to the top, the big doors opened. We walked down a long corridor. It was the most perfect beautiful building I had ever seen. We entered a room and then more doors opened. I see God. He was so happy to see me. He called me Son and ran up to me and hugged me. I was so overwhelmed. He had the most amazing voice I had ever heard in my life. Each word, each syllable was exquisite. We spoke about why I was there and things I still need to do in my life. He explained to me why people are on Earth and why I was on Earth. He said that certain people need to experience or learn things. He explained to me why what had happened had happened to me. He told me of all the things I will do in my life. We spoke for what seemed like 7-8 hours. He explained that I have to go back. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay there in heaven and be with him. Olivia was asking God that I stay. We tried hard to convince him but then I fell through the floor and suddenly I was falling down from the sky.

Gasp.. suddenly I woke up in the hospital with 10-15 doctors around me ready to resuscitate me and rush me to surgery if I couldn't breathe without the life support that they had just turned off. I was in pain. I didn't know where I was or what had happened to me. I thought the plane from South Africa must have crashed. The doctor was asking me what my name was and if I know where I am. I told him my name is Max. He explained that I had been in a terrible accident and was severely injured. He introduced his team to me and told me what each of them had done to save me. I thanked all of them and was overcome with gratitude. I was so grateful that they fought so hard to save me, that I got a second chance and that God had let me return to my family. And then I just wanted my Mom. I asked the doctors for my Mom. She was standing behind the doctors crying, she came forward and I just hugged her and cried. I was so happy to see her. All my fears went away and I knew everything would be okay. I asked my Mom if I could have some water and if we could please go home now. The doctor explained to me that I had broken my neck and back and that my leg was pinned with steel rods now. Also, my elbow and shoulder were shattered and that I had fractured my skull. My ribs were fractured and my organs were weeping. I looked down and saw all the drips in my arm and all the tubes in my body and felt very afraid. I just wanted all of it out of me and to go home. The doctors were very happy that I woke up out of the coma. It had been just over 2 weeks since the accident. They weren't sure if I would be able to move my arm or legs or if I was badly brain damaged until I woke up and they could check. Happily, everything was fine. I am not paralyzed and my brain will heal.

I have had to have 4 operations on my shoulder. The SUV hit me so hard that the socket shattered and all the ligaments and muscles were damaged. It dislocated and was badly injured. The first 2 operations failed miserably and I had to have a third much longer surgery where they rebuilt everything and put it all back into place. The surgeon was supposed to have pinned my arm and shoulder but then I would have lost the ability to raise my arm and some of my range of motion which seriously would have affected my surfing. The surgeon took pity on me and gave me one more chance and didnt pin it. I was put into an immobilizing sling which was very painful. Unfortunately a week later my shoulder fell apart. Luckily the surgeon rebuilt it again and gave it one last try. It was very uncomfortable and sore but I was so glad it wasn't pinned. He warned me that if it fell out again he would have to pin it. Paralyzed On the day of the appointment, I was so stressed out and nervous that it had fallen out again. I had to have an Xray to check it and have my stitches taken out. After the Xray, Dr. Canazares walked in and said that my arm and shoulder were absolutely perfect. He said he had been so worried about my shoulder. It was miraculous. No pins, no loss of motion. My stitches from the last operation were taken out which was very sore. I was so happy! This meant I wouldn't have any more surgeries or operations. Now it was just physio, speech therapy and cognitive therapy left. Lots of balance training so that I can surf again! I was nearing the end of this nightmare and it was almost over. My Mom took me to Panda Express for lunch to celebrate. She was so happy too.

Being back in South Africa, I can see myself going down that mountain again. I imagine myself walking through the jungle. Being there makes me happier to be alive on this beautiful planet. I’ll be so grateful for each step I can take on the beautiful white sand and I’m so happy to have learned what I've learned. When I get there, I almost start crying, because I’m so happy and grateful for life, for going through what I just went through. I’m glad I’ve learned so much. Walking on to that white sand beach, onto the whitest sands I’ve seen in my life, is like walking onto paradise.