Callum Jones, 20, left paralysed after running into sea

Callum Jones was hanging around with friends when he was spotted face-down in the water

A 20-year-old has been left paralysed from the waist down after running down a beach and into the sea.

Callum Jones was with friends at Freshwater East beach in Pembrokeshire when he was spotted face-down in the water on Thursday, 22 July.

He underwent an eight-hour operation but his family fear he will never walk again after fracturing a vertebra.

It is believed Mr Jones may have struck a rock as he went into the water after cricket practice.

"They've said he will probably never walk again. But we've got to stay positive. Miracles do happen," his auntie Sarah Lloyd said.

The welding apprentice, pictured with girlfriend Phoebe, was left paralysed after diving into the sea

Mr Jones, the eldest of his three siblings, does not remember what happened.

"He was found floating, face-down, awake and conscious, but he couldn't move," Ms Lloyd explained.

"He said afterwards he could hear people but he couldn't lift his head out of the water.

"So he just counted to 20 and thought that was it. When he told us that, we were crying."

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He was saved from drowning by a younger friend who saw him in the water and flipped him over.

"Callum managed to say 'help me', but he was only half-talking because he couldn't breathe," Ms Lloyd added.

His friends held him in the sea as a paddle-board was fetched to get him on to the beach.

An ambulance was called and once paramedics stabilised Mr Jones, he was taken to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.

It is feared Callum, pictured with mum Joanna, may never walk again

But he was flown to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for surgery after an X-ray showed he had completely shattered the C5 vertebra bone in his neck.

Using a metal plate and bone from his hip, surgeons built Mr Jones a new C5 bone.

Ms Lloyd said he was breathing through a tube in his throat and communicating by blinking.

She said she feared the road to recovery would be hard for her nephew.

His mother may have to give up work to look after him, she said, adding a fundraising page had been set up to fund physiotherapy.

"At best he will be in a wheelchair," Ms Lloyd said, adding he had "a slight feeling" in his arms on Wednesday.

"They said that's a really positive sign but we can't get too hopeful."