"Family and friends, they were the ones who pulled me out of it."
The damage was done between Parangi's C5 and C6 vertebrae nearly 20 years ago in a rugby league tackle in Kaitaia, not dissimilar to the one just weeks ago which created fears NRL player Alex McKinnon would be left a tetraplegic.
As a result of the break, Parangi was left with limited feeling from his nipples down, as well as poor hand function and an inability to tell the difference between hot and cold water on his body.
The 37-year-old was caught in a three-man sandwich-like tackle after making a break, hearing his neck break on impact. One of the men in the tackle was Parangi's uncle.
"It happened in a split second. I turned, saw someone come across, it went dark and I heard a crack. Some of the guys reckoned it looked pretty harmless from the sideline.
"The two guys went over the top and it was pretty much like a sandwich. It was kind of like Alex McKinnon with the two guys on the back, but the tackler was front-on.
"I had those moments in my head, eh, I had a 10-man overlap - even the boys still bring it up and say 'oh, you should have passed it'. It just goes through your mind what you could have done, could have chipped it over or passed.
"Apparently I was all right and would have been playing the next week but my mates couldn't wait for St John's to come so they decided to turn me over. When they turned me over they didn't have my head stabilised so they pretty much just flipped me on my back and my head swivelled and made the injury worse."
Still a league fan, Parangi watched McKinnon's unfortunate tackle unfold - leaving the memories to come flooding back.
Only a few years ago, Parangi met up with his uncle for the first time since the injury occurred and they reminisced on that tackle way back in 1995.
"I had a chat with him for the first time since the accident and he kind of cried; seeing this old guy cry was hard," Parangi said, before adding that the tackle had simply "happened".
Parangi isn't one to point fingers about his injury - especially after he shouldn't have taken the field.
The week before the accident, he busted his shoulder and the doctor told him not to play. Parangi had also suffered multiple concussions that season.
"I shouldn't have played because I had a broken shoulder from the weekend before but I just strapped it up, all good, and ended up with something worse.
"I didn't listen to the doctors, eh, I thought 'nah, I'm the man'. You know, when you're that young you think you're bulletproof."
But, as Parangi found out, he wasn't - leaving him to embark on a journey to regain his independence and his function.
Following his injury, Parangi spent months in hospital care before using a different form of sport to help rebuild his strength, wheelchair rugby.
The former Waikato wheelchair rugby player reflects fondly on the memories gained while playing, noting the people he met were his inspiration alongside his family.
"I have my angry moments but I know there are other guys worse off than me," the forever chuckling Parangi said.
After taking nine years to build up sufficient strength in his legs, he began walking, although he's now at a point where he's unlikely to gain any more function.
"Wheelchair rugby was like a support network within the sport, learning from each other.
"I've trained to get my core as strong but you still get to that point where your balance is going to be lost.
"I'm still at that plateau where I've gone to that point where I can do as much exercise as I can.
"But I feel there's room for improvement, I do a lot of hydrotherapy work and that's real helpful."
Along the way, Parangi has had some once-in-a-lifetime experiences, such as carrying the Olympic torch in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Now he has a goal to complete his diploma in sport and recreation at NorthTec but isn't so sure what the future holds.
He says the world is his oyster and he can see himself working with children in years to come or as a motivational speaker.
Wherever Parangi decides to take his life next, there's no doubting the Whangarei man has been through the wringer and come out the other side still smiling.
