'I'm happy to be alive, man': Paralyzed survivor describes his ordeal in New Orleans

Sitting in a hospital bed after hours of surgery on both of his broken legs, Jeremi Sensky began putting together the pieces of a life that was shattered on New Year's Day.

The 51-year-old Pennsylvania dad was ringing in the new year in New Orleans when a gunman barreled down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. In the chaos, Sensky -- who was paralyzed from the waist down several years ago in a car accident -- got knocked out of his wheelchair, breaking both his legs.

"I didn't know if I was going to make it here, and everyone helped me out. I'm all put back together again," Sensky told ABC News' Whit Johnson. "I'm happy to be alive, man."

As the white pickup truck began barreling down the street, Sensky said he couldn't figure out what was causing the commotion. He said he initially thought it was an explosion.

"Someone was yelling behind me, and I turned around and heard a loud noise," he said.

"The next thing I remember, I was laying on the ground, and my leg was all floppy, like it was broken," he said. "I was lifting up my leg with my hand. It was like bending the pieces, and I didn't know what was wrong."

While the fall broke multiple bones and ultimately required hours of surgery, his position on the ground might have saved his life as the gunman began firing at bystanders.

"I heard gunfire, and I kept thinking, I hope I'm out of the way from the gunfire. I hope I'm low enough on the ground that I wasn't in the way of the gunfire," he said.

Still lying on the ground as the shooting ceased, Sensky said he was "screaming as loud as [he] could" for help and struggling to determine the extent of his injuries.

"I was freaked out because of my leg. I kept screaming for help. Nobody was coming. I kept scraping around me trying to find my phone, there were just pieces of my wheelchair," he said, as law enforcement attended to the bodies near him.

When officers began to retreat from the location due to concerns about possible explosive devices in the truck, Sensky said his fears compounded.

"I was even more freaked out because now I'm lying by a truck -- and can't move -- that might have explosives in it," he said.

He ultimately credited first responders and hospital staff for saving his life, transporting him from Bourbon Street to University Medical Center for hours of surgery.

Even after he woke up after surgery, he said he struggled to remember what exactly happened that night.

"Honestly, like the whole time, I really did not know what the hell was going on. I just didn't know. I didn't know that I'd been hit by anything. I thought it was an explosion. I thought something blew up," he said.

Despite his injuries, Sensky said he feels "lucky" to have survived the attack and to be reunited with his family.

"I've been through a lot in my life, man," he said. "I was paralyzed in a car wreck. That was probably the worst part of my life, and I've been in a wheelchair ever since. I hate to say it, but I feel lucky right now. I am alive, and the people I was with are still alive."

"How do you have optimism in this moment, for the future in this new year?" Johnson asked during their candid conversation at University Medical Center.

"I'm alive, man. I'm alive. Everything's good," Sensky said.