Teenager Michael Cardoso would do anything to turn back the clock. The 16-year-old is adjusting to life in a wheelchair after a bike accident earlier this year left him paralysed from the chest down.

Learning to live within his new limits, he said he was struggling with the boredom and frustration that paralysis had brought, and said that even if he could ever walk again, he would never get back onto a bike.

With only the use of his shoulders, head and right arm, the life of freedom he knew only a few months ago was now a distant memory.

But an upbeat Michael spoke freely of his fears and concerns, smiling throughout and choosing instead to laugh at his situation, rather than to mope.

He may have dark days from time to time, when he does not want to go on, but he is dealing with it the only way he knows - one step at a time.

"I still hope every day that they find a cure for me, but it may happen in 50 years' time, so that means I have to be in this chair for the next 50 years," said Michael.

"Some days I would rather just sleep all day, rather than wake up. I can't handle the boredom.

"The last six months have been hell. I say to my friends `why should I get a good job because all of the money in the world would not make me happy'.

"I may as well just earn enough money for food.

"If I could turn the clock back to just five minutes before the accident, I would get off my bike and never get on it again.

"I would be just so happy if I could feel my legs and chest again. That would be perfect."

Michael was riding his bike along South Road in Paget in February this year when he was involved in a collision outside the Ice Queen take-away.

He was knocked over the top of one car, and under another, and said he instantly knew that something very bad was wrong when he could not feel his legs.

He had snapped his spinal cord and had broken a vertebrae, but fortunately his head and brain were in tact.

He said a high quality, full-faced helmet, which he had bought for $250, had saved his head and face, which he was thankful for.

But he said even that could not save his fragile body.

Michael, who is now staying at Summerhaven residential centre in Smith's while his parents find a suitable home for them all, said the rash of road crashes and deaths in recent weeks had really had an impact on him.

But he said reflecting on those that had died in the past month had not made him feel fortunate to be alive.

"When I first had the accident and I found out I was going to be paralysed, I didn't want to live," he said.

"Then, I realised that I had no other option and I had to get on with it. Some people would say they would rather be dead than paralysed, but I didn't get that option."

Michael said he missed going to some restaurants that were not wheelchair friendly and to the movie theatres, along with hanging out with his friends and doing the usual things that teenagers do.

Most of all, he missed being able to get up and walk.

But he said a new battery-operated wheelchair had given him slightly more freedom, so now he was able to go to the nearby supermarket, to John Smith's Bay and even to a friend's house close by.

He had even taken to travelling alone up to his parent's home in Tucker's Town.

But he said no matter what he did, it would never be the same.

He said his friends had remained true and loyal and regularly came to see him, but he understood that it was not easy for them, as well.

"My friends are still my friends, but they are 16 and 17 and they don't want to sit here doing nothing with me all day when they can be off doing something else," said a resigned Michael.

"I can understand that because it's boring here.

"So, they come for a while and then they leave and who can blame them?

"I do sometimes go down to the beach with them, or to a friend's house, but I can't do what they do and what I used to do."

And he said it was also still very difficult for his mother, who came to see him every day and then cried each time when she left him.

She just wants to take him home with her, but must wait until the right property becomes available. But Michael said he was hoping that in September he could return to CedarBridge Academy to complete a GED course and maybe concentrate on some other classes, too, such as computers and science, which would make him and his family feel better.

At least it would give him something to do, he said.

However, he has no idea what the future holds for him.

Until the start of this year, he was a talented carpenter, helping to build staircases, window frames and other large items, but that is no longer a possibility.

He has considered continuing with his carpentry, on a smaller scale, but is afraid of possible accidents.

"Carpentry can be dangerous, with blades turning around all over the place, and I only have my fingers left, so I'm not sure I should do that," he said thoughtfully. "I simply have no idea what to do. I just want to get back to school."

But Michael said he did not think that his situation or any of his comments would have any lasting effect on the way people behaved on the roads - purely because, like him, they did not believe it would ever happen to them.

He said all young people believed they were invincible.

"All I would say to people is `slow down what's the hurry'," he said.

"Look at me. It happened to me, so it could happen to you."