The 19-year-old man who was airlifted to a hospital the evening of Tuesday, June 24, following “a severe spinal cord injury” he suffered while skimboarding in the Atlantic Ocean near Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills is making progress on a long recovery journey, according to his family.

A 19-year-old man was airlifted to an out-of-area hospital Tuesday evening after being pulled from the Atlantic Ocean near Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills and after being briefly sent to the hospital in Nags Head, according to a Town of Kill Devil Hills press release.