Motorcyclist Matthew Murray was driving through the Santa Monica Mountains in Calabasas, California, when he lost control of his motorcycle.
On July 27, Murray veered off the mountain road, flying off a 250 foot cliff before landing in the woods below, according to officials on the scene. The entire crash was caught on a video camera mounted to Murray's motorcycle, showing Murray launch off the road high above the trees before crashing to the ground.
"It processed immediately in my head that you're gonna die," Murray told CNN Los Angeles affiliate KCAL-TV.
Murray, 27, lay motionless for about a minute and half before regaining consciousness, he said.
"I tried to walk to my motorcycle to get my phone and call 911," Murray said. "But I couldn't walk downhill, so I just turned around and halfway up the hill I went into shock."
Murray was able to climb up the cliff with a broken back and flag a driver to call 911.
Matthew's mother, Amy Murray, told CNN her son thought he had died.
"As he was flying, his thought through his head was, 'I'm dying,'" she said. "So this is what dead feels like."
She said her son has trouble watching the video of his near-death experience. "He can't believe he's alive, he can't watch the whole video," she said. "He though he was dead."
Murray is now out of the hospital, she said, but still recovering from a broken back, broken clavicle and a punctured lung.
Murray told KCAL-TV the only thing he thought to do was fight through the pain.
"...I just decided to fight," he said. "Honestly, my legs were done so I just kind of crawled up and once I made it to the top I just collapsed."
Amy Murray said while her son loved his motorcycle, he won't be riding one anymore.
"He's been on a bike for six years," she said. "Unfortunately, he loved the thrill of it."
The-CNN-Wire
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