Trinidad’s Andrew Lewis says participating at the Olympics was the farthest thing from his mind after a freak accident left him fighting for his life in Rio de Janeiro last December.

The 26-year-old Laser sailor was crushed by the top section of a wall after it fell on him. He was left with two broken ribs, a broken tibia, a punctured lung and nine fractured bones in his face.

“At that point you don’t really think about the Olympics any more, you think about survival you know,” Lewis said.

After a week in hospital his lung was functioning well enough for him to have surgery on his injuries.

“I told my team of doctors and physiotherapists I would walk one month from the accident, and I would run in two months,” he said.

“And once I could walk and run, I could sail. Anyone who told me ‘no’, I pretty much removed them from the team.”