Father-of-two left with serious brain, spinal injury after suffering 'the bends'

Concrete layer Jesse Hartnett says he's lucky he survived his decompression sickness after coming up too quick from a dive at Pauanui. Photo / File

A 25-year-old is now wheelchair-bound after suffering "the bends" while diving on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Jesse Hartnett says he came up out of the water too fast before hearing his ears go "bang" when he reached the surface but didn't think too much of it.

He told Stuff he began to feel unwell the next day so went to see his doctor.

He was airlifted to hospital shortly afterwards and put in a decompression chamber in Auckland's North Shore Hospital.

He was also put in the Slark Hyperbaric Unit based at the Devonport Naval Base, one of just two in New Zealand that treated decompression sickness, or "the bends".

While in hospital for two weeks the father-of-two suffered serious internal injuries with his bowels and bladder shutting down and losing 80 per cent of the feeling on the left side of his body.

He was eventually discharged, before being admitted to Waikato Hospital due to intense chest pain.

He had been in the Ōtara Spinal Unit for a week, suffering from a brain injury and a spinal injury caused by air pockets.

Hartnett was now using a wheelchair, which he said had put him into a "form of depression".

"It's made me realise how many places aren't wheelchair accessible," he told Stuff.

Being wheelchair-bound meant he was unable to play with his children, aged 18 months and 8.

"Not being able to play with them makes me feel like my heart has been ripped out," he said.

"One morning I'm fit and healthy and 12 hours later I can't keep my eyes open for more than four hours."

In rare cases, the disease forms bubbles which can block arteries causing paralysis, strokes and heart attacks.