Coming back from a life altering injury puts a lot of pressure on the body, but also the mind.

"High Fives is the safety net of the outdoor sports community," said Roy Tuscany, CEO & Founder, High Fives Foundation.

The foundation was started after Tuscany's life changed forever.

"Back in 2006 I was an aspiring pro skier," he said. "I went 130 feet on a 100 feet ski jump and the result and impact from the snow burst fracture my T12 vertebrae into my spine causing partial paralysis from the belly button down."

Since that very moment, Tuscany wanted to give people in shoes similar to his a chance to get back into doing what they love.

"The biggest part of this 15 years and this journey is giving individuals that have had life changing injuries the opportunity to have hope and to be surrounded by others that can be mentored through the process," he said.

Tuscany and the foundation have helped more than one thousand people.

This year they introduced their wake surf clinic.

They received grant money and a boat from MasterCraft for 150 hours on Lake Tahoe to give people with disabilities a chance to ride the waves.

"You know if it's laying, sitting or standing, we'll get you up on a wave behind this boat and give you an opportunity to go wake surfing," Tuscany said. "When you can provide access with no barriers to individuals that usually have to find new ways to get accessible ventures in front of them... we're giving them the opportunity to just show up."

During one of their recent clinics, Anthony Giacinto took the trip to try and catch some waves.

"As I'm getting stronger and independent, I'm feeling more adventurous," he said as the boat was riding through Lake Tahoe.

For three years, Giacinto has been working to recover.

His life changed when he was at the lake with his buddies.

He had to get ready to go to work but wanted to make one last dip into the water.

"I went to dive under a wave and there was a sand bar, and I just hit my head at the perfect angle I guess and broke my neck," Giacinto recalled.

He says the road to recovery has not always been busy, but he says he tries to look at it with a glass half full approach.

"There's some days where it's hard to get out of bed and mourning your old life and you're just having a hard time and then there's days like this where it's sunny blue skies and out there wake surfing and you're having a blast," Giacinto says with a big smile on his face.

Giacinto says he found out about the High Fives Foundation early on when he was in the hospital. He's grateful for the opportunity given by them.

When trying out wake surfing, like his recovery, every time he fell, he got right back up to give it another go.

"It's like being a toddler again learning how to walk, learning how to put on pants, it's the same way on a board," Giacinto said.

His dad, Joe, was also on board. Smiling just as big as his son was while riding the waves.

"It's been three years now and where we were two years ago to where we are now, it's just been incredible, and it's just amazing of the progress he's making," Joe Giacinto said.

No matter what challenges life has thrown at Anthony Giacinto, he says he will always keep it pushing.

"I mean you can't stop, you know," he said. "If you want life to go on, you can't stop. There's a great quote that's plastered on the wall at Craig and it says, 'you never know how strong you are until you need to be'."

To learn more about the High Fives Foundation, click this link.