Matt Moss, sports editor of the Whidbey News-Times and a 1992 graduate of South Whidbey High School, is recovering from a broken neck at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Moss, 28, fractured his fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae in a swimming pool accident Wednesday evening, July 10, at a Sea-Tac motel. He and a group of high school buddies were spending the night there before flying to Las Vegas the following day.

After the accident, his friends, among them Chris Currier and Chris Larson, immediately pulled him from the pool and called 911. He was undergoing treatment at Harborview literally within minutes. “All his best friends were right there,” said Michelle Strevel, sister of Mason Strevel, one of Moss’s best friends.

He spent a few days being stabilized before undergoing surgery on Monday. By Tuesday, friends and relatives were encouraged by signs of improvement.

Jan McNeely, a South Whidbey physical education teacher and Moss’s aunt, visited him in the hospital following the surgery to fuse his spinal column in place. “He got through it really well,” she said Tuesday morning. She described Moss as paralyzed, but he can move his arms and is regaining some feeling elsewhere, including his feet and his legs.

At this point doctors are uncertain how much movement Moss will regain. “They just don’t know,” McNeely said. “But with a lot of hard work I think it will be just amazing how much he comes back.” She said spinal injuries can show improvement for months. She estimated his rehabilitation period will be from six months to a year.

Moss graduated from the University of Washington, went to work for a national sports Internet publication, and then last October took the job as sports editor of the Whidbey News-Times. He was taking a short vacation when the accident happened.

Moss is said to be in good spirits in the hospital, and he’s being supported by a host of friends and relatives. His room is often filled with visitors. McNeely described him as “talking fabulously, and very opinionated.” That was good news for those who know the lively, fun-loving Moss.

Moss has a long road ahead of him, but McNeely said he won’t be alone. “It’s going to take all his family and friends to get him through this,” she said.