Dad was left paralysed face down in sea after breaking neck on bodyboard

A dad who broke his neck and almost drowned while bodyboarding on holiday in Mexico regained his mobility to walk his daughter down the aisle. Ansel Van Horn, 55, was bodyboarding on holiday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with family and friends when a wave hit him and flipped him and his board over.

He landed on his head on the ocean floor and heard a crack and ended up face down in the ocean. But when he tried to flip himself back over he realised he was paralysed. Ansel tried to hold his breathe for as long as he could but eventually had to swallow the water and passed out - and was later told his heart had stopped for three minutes and he effectively "died".

Ansel's friends, Travis Lounden, 40, and George Laughton, 45, spotted him in trouble and pulled him out of the water - reviving him with CPR. He was rushed to hospital and had to have emergency surgery as he had broken his neck, shattered his C4 vertebra and shattered his C3 and C5.

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Ansel was flown back home two days later and spent three months in hospital - learning to breathe alone and regaining mobility. He was told he had a 2% chance of walking again but, through physical therapy, was back walking within a year and a half - and was able to walk his daughter down the aisle.

Ansel, who previously worked sales, said: "It was literally the first wave. It hit me and flipped me over backwards. I landed on my head and heard a crack. I was face down in the water and tried to myself over but I couldn't do it. I realised I'd broken my neck and I was paralysed."

Ansel was on holiday with his wife, Sheryl, 56, a nail technician, and his daughters Presley, 28, and Kenadee, 23, and their friends, Travis and George. On the second day, June 26, 2022, he went bodyboarding with his mates on their private beach when disaster struck.

He said: "Everything went into slow motion. I thought 'I need to hold my breath until one of my friends come and flip me over'."

He held his breath for as long as he could until he had to give up. Ansel said: "I breathed in the water. I was in 4ft of water. I just passed out."

In this time his wife, Sheryl, and his friends had spotted he was face down and managed to drag him out and started performing CPR. Ansel said: "Travis flipped me over. He said my eyes were blue, blue, blue and my face was grey. He knew I was gone."

Ansel started coughing up water and was rushed in an ambulance to the local hospital. There they realised he had broken his neck and injured his spine. They had to pay £28,000 for emergency surgery to release the pressure on his spinal cord and took his hip bone to replace his C4 vertebra.

Ansel said: "I was paralyzed from the shoulders down."

The family then flew him back on a £28,000 medical jet on June 28, 2022. Thankfully his medical bills were covered by his insurance. They fitted him with a tracheostomy but didn't know how much mobility he would be able to gain back.

Ansel said: "They said I had a 2% chance for mobility and function - that's it. I couldn't feel anything from the shoulders down.

"Doctors told me 'it's up to you and your fight'. My mind shifted - 'I'll give it everything I can do'."

Ansel fought to breathe by himself and had his tracheostomy taken out within eight days - when doctors thought it would be three months. He spent two weeks in ICU before being moved to inpatient care where he spent three months before coming home in an electric wheelchair.

Ansel said: "I was able to move my right hand to move the chair. My left hand would open. I couldn't stand on my own. I couldn't walk. Sheryl was doing it all - dressing me, helping me move."

But Ansel started to see more progress when he got home - using a harness to help him move his legs, before progressing to a walker before being able to walk independently a year and a half after the accident. He said: "Slowly I started getting function back."

Ansel had a pump fitted so his medication for his muscle spasms could be fed directly into his spinal fluid - instead of taking it orally. But when he needed it replaced, doctors spotted he had a spinal leak.

He was put on bed rest while he waited for it for the surgery. But Ansel was still determined to walk his daughter, Presley, down the aisle when she tied the knot in November 2024.

He said: "There are videos of my shuffling my feet and walking her down the aisle."

Ansel had the surgery in December 2024 and again in January 2025 when it didn't work initially. He is now back to walking with his walker and slowly regaining his strength. She said: "I'm able to feed myself with an adapted fork and spoon.

"I'm able to get up and get in my walker and go to the bathroom myself. I'm grateful that I'm where I'm at."