He suffered multiple injuries when he fell 6.5 metres down an airconditioning vent onto a concrete floor at the Nishi apartment complex in Civic in October.

The 22-year-old labourer from Bonner lay in darkness for almost two hours with a broken back, five broken ribs, a punctured lung and head and shoulder injuries, until a workmate found him.

Six months after the accident, the former Radford College student is still unable to drive and is consumed by the long process of healing his body.

''I've started all my recovery now, so I'm just taking it day by day. Doing a lot of rehab, hydro and, yeah, just taking it day by day,'' he said.

''Mentally, it's a struggle. I struggle to sleep at night. And it's really hard, just physically, I can't do what I used to be able do.

''I can't play sport … I'm just working towards hopefully getting back to where I was. That's the aim at the moment, just getting better.''

Whether his recovery will include a return to work in the construction industry is something he can't yet make a decision about.

''I don't know. I'm not sure. We will just have to wait and see and see what the future holds for me,'' he said.

Mr Bush's experiences also confirm that accidents in the workplace can affect a person for months, if not years. ''If it's really sore I can put the brace back on but I'm trying to get past that brace stage and punch through the pain,'' he said.

The young man will attend Sunday's opening of the National Workers Memorial, keen to show his support for the project.

''I think it's great, to honour the people who have been hurt. I could have been one of the ones who passed as well. I'm just one of the lucky ones who did just scrape through,'' he said. MEGAN DOHERTY