After seven months in hospital, Cam returned home on Friday and said there was nothing like waking up in his own bed with his two little boys cuddling him.

“I’ve missed so much of their lives,” he said.

“This is the start of our new life together and I’m looking forward to lots of family time.”

Cam became a quadriplegic after diving into a sandbar at Depot Beach in February this year and, until last Friday, his home has been the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

His wife Jade and their sons Fynn and Sonny travelled to see him every week and are relieved to finally have him home.

“It was hard travelling to Sydney all the time,” Jade said, “both financially and it was difficult leaving the kids - I couldn’t take them all the time.”

The family has moved into a rental property while a new purpose-built home is constructed on their block of land at Kings Point.

Thanks to the generosity of the South Coast community, the block has been excavated and the new home is expected to be completed by January or February next year.

A series of fundraisers has also provided a van with a wheelchair lift so Cam can be driven around.

The couple’s life was thrown into turmoil following the accident, but they agreed the support from the community has been overwhelming.

Cam is receiving home visits from nurses and will soon begin physiotherapy to help him gain strength and movement.

Jade said it would be a “miracle” if he walked again, but said he had made significant improvements.

Cam can now clean his teeth, feed himself and move around in his four-wheel-drive electric wheelchair.

Coming home has been an emotional roller coaster and there are big changes in store for the whole family.

“We’ve got so much to work out,” Jade said. “It’s huge for Cam, because he’s gone from the hospital where there are other people like him that he can relate to, to being at home where he’s the only one in a wheelchair.

“We want to try and get out and about and do things together as a family.

“Having the van means we can go for drives and get into town easily.”

Cam said that for the next few months he will be “learning to adjust to life”.

Already he has been out and about in town in his chair and one of the first things he did after arriving home was go to Fynn’s pre-school to pick him up.

“It was great, he was so happy to see me there and the kids climbed all over the chair,” he said.

“It’s the everyday moments like that, that I have missed out on. Coming home will allow me to share the little things in their lives that are really special.”