KAYAKER David Wilson has described the moment he was forced to choose between life and death.
Trapped against a fallen tree by a torrent of water in an icy river, the Northcote father of two knew rescue was out of the question.
"I knew there was no way they could have rescued me where I was," he said.
"I was in completely the wrong spot. There`s no way they could have got to me."
Mr Wilson, 38, looked death in the eye in the West Kiewa River, in northeast Victoria, last Sunday.
Pinned inside the kayak with cold water rising all around him, time seemed to stand still as he figured out a survival plan.
He levered himself partly out of the submerged kayak against the avalanche of water pounding against his body in an attempt to deliberately break his leg against the rim of the kayak.
"After a while, I just kind of felt my leg go `crunch` and I rolled forward out of the boat," Mr Wilson said.
The car industry worker was pulled from the river by his kayaking mates.
"The only thing I felt was relief. I was very happy, obviously, to be alive," he said.
After a cold night in the bush, he was flown out by helicopter the next morning.
