It was just a typical night at work for Corbin Hart until one single moment changed his life forever.

While working as a civil construction supervisor in Makarau he was staying late to clean a road machine when his foot slipped and his leg got pulled inside.

The then-25-year-old remembers panicking as soon as it happened and thought he was going to die.

After lying on the ground for a few seconds to take in what had happened he knew he needed to get help.

Hart told 1News: "I thought 'that's it' - and then I was like 'nah'."

He found his phone in his pocket and called for an ambulance before he got a colleague's attention who came to his side.

By the time the ambulance arrived, he was in critical condition but he urgently needed to go to hospital.

The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter service rushed to the scene carrying a an emergency medical doctor and an intensive care paramedic.

Pilot Simon Owen remembers arriving and was taken aback by how calm and composed Hart was.

He already had a tourniquet around his leg which he says undoubtedly saved his life.

They applied a fresh tourniquet before transporting him to Auckland City Hospital where his right leg was amputated to prevent infection.

Hart said: "I woke up in hospital and I was like 'sweet, I'm still here, this is cool'.

"I went back to what I was doing for work and then thought 'nah, bugger this', let's go do something else and make something good out of a bad situation."

While out on a fishing trip, his former boss encouraged him to get into sport and turned to a friend to help him try out kayaking.

He said: "I just put all my time and effort into kayaking. That was my new purpose, that's why I got into it. I just wanted to stay fit, because I'd lost a leg. It was like 'how am I going to stay fit? I can't run.

"It led from that to 'OK, this is something I could be good at'."

In just three months, he was competing and less than a year after his accident, Hart represented New Zealand at the Tokyo Paralympics.

In 2022, he finished fifth at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships for the KL3 200m sprint.

In a heart-warming meeting yesterday, Hart was reunited with Owen and Air Crew Officer Graham Jones, who helped save his life.

Hart said: "It means a lot to come out and see them, especially in the state I am in now – I think for myself but also for them, so it's actually quite special to come back and say thanks and have a laugh and talk about it and all that sort of stuff.

"I've really enjoyed it and it's filled my cup quite a lot."

His message for the crew was simple.

"Thanks. Thanks for picking me up and keeping me here," he said.

Owen says Hart's attitude is something that others can learn from.

He said: "Corbin is 100 percent absolutely an inspiring guy with the right attitude and mindset to get him through this.

"Now he's at the Paralympics representing New Zealand in his late twenties – really inspiring."

But Hart said he "was very lucky".

Adjusting to his new life took some time but while there's been challenges, Hart says it's not about dismissing the challenges as they come up but embracing them.

He said: "It's had its ups and downs. It's not just perfect – there's days where you've had enough and there's also days where it's like 'this is great', especially what I'm doing now.

"There's always positives to every negative but at the same time, it's accepting the bad and moving forward with it."