In the corner of a busy hospital ward, tucked behind a curtain for our arrival, lies Joshua Davies.
His face is alert and he's talkative, but take a look down the bed and you can see both his feet and his left hand in casts.
A month ago, Joshua fell from a bridge near his home in Pontypridd, fracturing his spine in four places.
The reason for the fall? According to Joshua, it was to get away from bullies.
He told Newsbeat: "I can remember speaking on the phone to the ambulance telling them 'I can't move my legs'.
"They put me on a spinal board, and that's all I can remember from it."
Joshua's family said police had been contacted 15 times about attacks on the teenager, who has Asperger's syndrome.
South Wales Police said it had carried out "a thorough investigation" into assault complaints and had arrested and bailed three teenagers.
The family claims the teenager has been bullied for the last five years, targeted because of his disability, which is a form of autism.
"Josh has never really had an identity as such, he's a good lad, he's a pleaser, he would do anything for anyone," said his mother Cheryl Davies.
"Because of the Asperger's Joshua struggles with social cues.
"When people confront him, if they're nice to him, Joshua thinks they want to be his friend. Which isn't always the case."
"He's slowly getting there, and it is giving him a few setbacks when he has those reality checks, although he's trying to stay positive."
During his time in hospital, Joshua has had lots of visitors but said it's still hard to take his mind off what happened.
"I've got family to come up and see me and friends, and I've got things to entertain me.
"But when I am on my own I'm just thinking 'I am lucky to have survived and carry on with my life'."
"I was going to be studying electrical engineering, but if I'm not able to stand up I'm going to have to find another course because I won't be able to use the machinery."
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube
In his first interview, a teenager paralysed as he tried to escape bullies describes what happened to Newsbeat.