Out for a day of surfing in Bolinas with friends, Marcos Ornellas was riding a wave back to shore when he realized he was heading toward a group of children attending a surf camp at an adjacent beach.

Ornellas, a 15-year-old Sausalito resident, tried to dive off the board to avoid hitting any children, according to his mother, Elena Vives. In the process, his head struck an area of hard-packed sand in the shallow water near the shore.

The impact to his head and neck broke his fifth cervical vertebra, sending a piece of broken bone pushing into his spinal cord.

“His friend noticed he was face down in the water and not moving,” Winnie Anderluh, organizer of a fundraising campaign to help Ornellas and his family, posted at GoFundMe.com. “Upon turning him over, Marcos — who was thankfully still breathing — told his friend he could not feel his arms and legs.”

Ornellas, a junior at Redwood High School and a varsity soccer player, was airlifted by medical helicopter to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, according to Sgt. Adam Schermerhorn of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Ornellas underwent about seven hours of surgery to repair the broken cervical disc and to fuse the two discs surrounding the broken vertebra, according to his mother.

After recovering from the surgery, her son was transferred to a Kaiser Permanente rehabilitation hospital in Vallejo, where he “is seeing a little more progress every day,” Vives said in an interview on Monday.

Since the incident on June 29, the family has been flooded with expressions of support from friends, classmates and neighbors and more than $80,000 in donations on the GoFundMe page. The page is at shorturl.at/hxAR3.

Vives said the money will come in handy because, even though the family has health insurance, “you never know what’s coming next.”

*We are very thankful to Marcos’ friends who helped save his life, to the staff of the surf camp who were at the beach in Bolinas that helped the boys call 911 and deal with the emergency, and to the doctors, nurses, therapists and other professionals who have helped & will help Marcos recover,” Vives posted on the GoFundMe page.

Vives also praised Dr. Peter Sun, the neurosurgeon at the Oakland hospital, for his work in the operation.

“We have been seeing progress,” Vives said of her son’s recovery. “We are very optimistic. Everybody in the hospital is very happy with his progress.”

Barnaby Payne, the principal at Redwood, has contacted the family to express support on behalf of the school, Vives said. He told her that the school will make arrangements for Ornellas to attend classes remotely in the fall, she said.

Tara Taupier, superintendent of the Tamalpais Union High School District, she and other administrators have seen the note of thanks posted by Vives online.

“We too express our gratitude for those who were able to help Marcos,” Taupier said.

“The Tam District school community has always shown great support for students and families during times of need,” Taupier said. “I am heartened to hear of the support this student has received and will certainly continue to receive from this community.”

Ornellas, who is 6-foot, 3-inches tall, has been playing soccer since he was 3 years old, his mother said. In addition to playing for Redwood, he was also a member of the Marin FC club soccer team.

She said her son’s youth, good physical health and extremely positive attitude should bode well for his complete recovery of mobility.

“He said he is determined to fight for it,” Vives said. “He said even if it takes him 40 years, he will fight for it.”

Vives said her son’s positive attitude keeps her own mood from going dark.

“He really keeps me going,” she said. “He is the one who keeps me happy, he is so inspirational. I don’t know how he does it — he has so much hope.”