Hayden was surfing with his son and his spine was fractured at the base of his neck.
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden fractured his spine near the base of his neck while surfing with his son on North Stradbroke Island on Friday.
Not only spine fracture, but he also tore several ligaments and hurt his forehead after being dumped into a sandbank while surfing during a holiday in Queensland.
"Fractured C6, torn C5, C4 ligaments safe to say I truly have dodged a bullet. Thank you, everyone. On the road to recovery," Hayden wrote in an Instagram post.
Talking to Brisbane's Courier-Mail, Hayden said he was "bloody lucky" to escape serious injury. "It was an hour into the session and we had had half dozen waves together and I got this one right-handed wave which I sort of ducked under and that is pretty much all I can remember," he said.
"I wasn't knocked out. I was speared into the top of the sandbank onto the top of my head. Then it twisted my head with my own weight and the weight of the wave.
"I heard this god almighty click in my neck. I did not get knocked out but I sort of came to and rolled up on my back."
The accident won't stop him from surfing in future. He said, "The ocean gives and the ocean takes -- I will be back."