A week ago Toby Woolgar had the world at his feet. Now he's in hospital with a broken back after jumping into the sea from a jetty.

He had just turned 21, bought his first home and was training to be a tree surgeon.

Popular with a close-knit group of friends, devoted to his pretty girlfriend and close to his parents, he was a bright, happy young man with everything to live for.

But within days of blowing out the 21 candles on the cake baked to mark the happy occasion, disaster struck.

In a moment of madness, during a family picnic on the beach at Ferring, near Worthing, he leapt from a jetty.

His spine shattered in three places as he crashed headfirst through the shallow water on to the sea bed.

Now Toby is lying in a bed in Salisbury Hospital in Wiltshire after being transferred from Worthing, and being fed by tubes.

If he survives the complex surgery, doctors say it is unlikely he will ever walk again.

His devastated parents have spoken of their disbelief that a life showing such promise could be so suddenly snatched away.

Speaking through tears, his father Gerry, 46, told The Argus he wanted others to learn from the mistake, which has cost his precious son so much.

Mr Woolgar, of Cuckfield, near Haywards Heath, said he had taken Toby and his four brothers, the youngest of whom is five, to the beach as part of a weekend of celebrations to mark his 21st.

He said: "We had gone down to the beach on Saturday. I was supposed to be going to a wedding but instead we decided to have a boys' night out and my wife went to the wedding on her own.

"We had a barbecue and slept the night at the beach.

"In the morning we decided to stay another couple of hours.

"My sons wanted to go to the jetty so I said 'Go down there but do not do anything stupid.'

"I was packing our stuff getting ready to go when one of my other sons came running back, saying something terrible had happened to Toby.

"When I got there he had been pulled out of the sea and was just lying there. I felt totally useless. It was horrendous."

The Argus reported on Monday how Toby was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after being pulled out of the sea by Chris Siddall, from Crawley, who was visiting the beach with his wife and two young daughters.

Mr Woolgar said: "Toby is not an irresponsible man. He doesn't smoke or drink a lot and he's a keen Arsenal football fan and basketball player. He's just a normal lad.

"He nursed his mother, my ex-wife, who died from breast cancer when Toby was 15 and his gran after she had a stroke until she died last year. He is such a caring, lovely person.

"There are not many people of his age who have had to deal with what he has and now this.

"I keep asking myself why, why did he stupidly jump off that ledge. It makes you realise it only takes a second to change your life. Now who knows what will happen.

"Toby has always lived by the sea and now his life will be completely changed by the sea. All because of one moment of madness."

Mr Woolgar told how he had watched his son lying in hospital, terrified he would never again be able to take his sons on a carefree trip to the beach again.

He said: "People must be aware what can happen if they jump off piers and ledges into the sea. It is dangerous and I would say to others just don't do it.

"A couple of weeks ago I read in The Argus about people jumping off the pier in Brighton. I just want people to know this is the result. I want other people to learn from his lesson and I want it to stop them doing the same thing.

"If his tragedy stops just one person in the future, that is one person's life. I would say to people don't put yourselves at risk."

Mr Woolgar remembered how he had watched his son's paralysed body being pulled from sea.

He said: "All I could think was 'that is my son and he is lying there.'

"I cannot thank the man who saved him enough. At the time I was in a real mess not knowing what to do.

"I had Toby lying on the floor and my four other sons traumatised. I couldn't thank him at the time but I really appreciate it.

"It is hard to see Toby lying here on the hospital bed all chewed up.

"Toby jumped in one or two times and it was on the third that something happened. He was just lying there and apparently everyone thought he was playing but then they realised it was serious."

"It is such a waste of facilities for the NHS.

"It will cost thousands to keep him alive and then more to rehabilitate him. I really appreciate what the hospital are doing and am grateful because Toby really needs them now but if he had not jumped off that ledge this would not have happened.

"If people do not do things like this the money spent on looking after them could go on other things which are out of human control."

"At the moment they think in time he will be able to move his arms and his neck but that is it."