Joe was injured in December 2016 while swimming in the ocean when a sudden, exceptionally large wave struck him from behind and threw him headfirst into an underwater sandbar. The impact caused a severe spinal cord injury at the C3/C4 level, leaving him underwater and unable to move. He remained pulseless for approximately 25 minutes before lifeguards and first responders resuscitated him on the beach, and the high-level cervical injury resulted in quadriplegia and complete paralysis from the neck down