'I couldn't feel my legs. I could only see blood from my mouth'

Pierce Harris is recovering in hospital after the accident. Photo / Supplied

Life can change in an instant - just ask Pierce Harris.

One moment the electrical apprentice was working under his prized Toyota MR2, the next he was face-down in the gutter, unable to feel his legs and with blood streaming from his mouth. And he was in agony.

Pierce Harris. Photo / Supplied

The 23-year-old was working under his bright yellow sports car - parked with two wheels on the kerb - two weeks ago when it was struck by another a vehicle. He was dragged 11m along the road outside his home in Hikurangi, north of Whangarei and was seriously injured.

He couldn't remember the impact, but the immediate aftermath was clear, Harris told the Herald on Sunday from his hospital bed this week.

"I couldn't feel my legs. I was face down and I could only see blood from my mouth p***ing out. Mum was there pretty much when I woke up, telling me what was happening. I was freaking out. I remember being in agony."

There wasn't much of Harris that wasn't broken, torn, bruised or cut. As well as a broken femur, upper arm, collar bone, ribs and nine vertebrae, one of which had also burst, his right ankle was "grated off" to the bone and tendons were torn.

Harris' car after it was struck by another vehicle. Photo / Michael Cunningham

He also suffered serious tissue injuries to parts of his body, his lungs were bruised, two front teeth were knocked out and he had grazes, puncture wounds and cuts from his "toes to his nose", his mum Justine Payen said.

Despite that, he was lucky, she said.

"There was no head, neck or spinal cord injury, or any major injury to internal organs. The parts that make him go are all good."

A 52-year-old man was driving the vehicle which struck Harris' MR2, which has since been written off.

Constable Cameron Stack, of Hikurangi, said police were still investigating and hoped to make a decision this week on whether any charges would be laid.

Harris said he had not heard from the driver of the other car and had no feelings towards him.

"I'm just focusing on myself. I don't really want any angry thoughts. I definitely don't have much energy for anything else."

The last two weeks were the beginning of what will be a lengthy healing process, with five surgeries totalling 30 hours already logged.

He was buoyed by support from friends, family and strangers, Harris said.

"Thank you to everyone who has helped me."

A Give a Little page has been set up and Payen said among those to make contact were members of the MR2 Club and overseas players of Clash of the Clans, an online game Harris played.

"We just want everybody to know that he's okay and on the mend and to thank everybody for their kind thoughts, even from complete strangers. It's been amazing," Payen said.