Former Northland rugby league representative Rio Greening thought his time was up when his motorbike collided with a milk tanker.
"I thought if I am going to live, it will be a miracle. My life has been spared," said the 45-year-old from his Ohaeawai home after being released from hospital.
He's nursing
three fractures in his pelvis and one in an elbow from the accident at the intersection of State Highway 1 and SH12 on the Brynderwyn hills about two weeks ago.
Mr Greening spent five days in Whangarei Hospital and about a week in Bay of Islands Hospital and still can't believe he is alive after the smash.
Mr Greening left home on the morning of November 26 for Auckland where he joined other motorcyclists on the White Ribbon campaign against domestic violence.
His custom-built Harley-Davidson was among 70 to 100 motorcycles that headed up north to finish off the campaign.
As he turned a corner, about 30m before the SH1 and SH12 intersection, he suddenly realised he was in trouble.
"I applied the brakes, laid the bike low and slid the bike and it hit the truck and bounced off," he said of the moments before impact.
A nurse on holiday from Australia who attended to him at the scene said he was lucky not to have broken his back.
"I couldn't move, although I was conscious. I felt unbearable pain in my pelvis, middle of the spine and the right side of my body," Mr Greening said.
A St John ambulance heading north from Kaiwaka transported him to the Whangarei Hospital.
Mr Greening also took part in the White Ribbon campaign last year, but his beloved Harley-Davidson is now a write-off. Police have not yet laid charges over the crash.
A spate of crashes on the Brynderwyns forced Land Transport NZ and police to reduce the speed limit to 80km/h last year.
