It was just meant to be a great day out with mates on a motorcycle ride, but a Wagga man's life changed in a split second.
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According to the Centre for Road Safety, 248 people in the Wagga region have been seriously injured in a road crash between 2015 to 2019.
Craig Cassimatis was one of those people after he had to spend more than a year recovering in hospital when a weekend motorcycle trip went horribly wrong.
"There weren't too many bones in my body that weren't broken - from the base of the skull, the spine, the neck, back, ribs, arms, and legs," he said.
"It was a bit of a blur, but I remember trying to communicate, but because I was hooked up to machines and tubes down my throat and all that sort of stuff.
"I remember writing certain things on a whiteboard to communicate with my wife and whoever was there at that time."
After being airlifted from the scene, Mr Cassimatis spent nine-and-a-half months in Canberra Hospital before he was well enough to be transferred back to Wagga.
With his experiences of learning to walk again, the father wanted to share one message.
"You've got to think of family when you are doing things," he said.
"The day I was on the ride, it was supposed to be a nice easy ride. My son was due to get engaged the next weekend. When people are on the road, I suppose they've got to think more about everybody else on the road."
To hear the full interview with Mr Cassimatis, listen to episode two of The Riv: A Podcast about People, head to The Daily Advertiser's website.
New episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays at 1pm.
Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform. Just search The Riv.
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