A Fairfield middle school teacher is spreading awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.

Vincent Carbone has taught science for 27 years, 13 of which have been at Fairfield Woods Middle School. However, his students have had a substitute teacher all year because of a car crash that seriously injured him.

The teacher was near death following a crash on Route 111 in Monroe in April.

"I was spitting out glass," says Carbone. "I remember taking my deep breath and just sitting there waiting and waiting."

Emergency crews arrived on the scene, cut him out of his car and rushed him to the hospital.

"I had 10 transfusions, 20 broken bones. I've had 20 operations," he tells News 12.

During his four months in the hospital, Carbone learned from police that the driver was on her phone minutes before the accident.

However, with no eyewitnesses, police say they cannot name distracted driving as the cause for the crash.

That hasn't stopped Carbone from trying to make a difference. He made a proposal in Hartford to enforce stricter punishments and offer more education on distracted driving.

Carbone says his wife was the passenger during the accident and suffered ankle and rib injuries. He says he hopes to make a full recovery and get back to his sixth-grade classroom in September.