A NSW father is facing a long and difficult recovery after suffering severe spinal injuries in a horse riding accident on his family property.
Patrick Wheatley was enjoying time with his wife Elissa and their baby daughter, Macey, at their Central Coast home on Sunday July 28, when he broke his C3, C4 and C5 vertebrae in his neck.
The self-employed tradie was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his spine.
Mitch Jacob, a friend of the Wheatley family, has set up a crowdfunding page to help support the family financially.
Jacob has also provided an update on Wheatley’s condition and the lengthy and costly recovery he faces.
“He spent over a week in ICU and only recently moved to the Spinal Unit to start his long and difficult recovery process,” Jacob wrote in a GoFundMe post.
“He currently has minimal feeling and movement in his hands and arms but still nothing from his chest down.
Jacob also revealed this is the second serious incident the family has lived through involving a horse.
“Pat, Elissa and the whole family have already been through many hurdles over the last few years with Elissa also being involved in a life threatening accident with a horse,” he wrote.
“But fortunately made a miraculous recovery and got married to Pat in a beautiful wedding in Fiji and also bringing their greatest gift Macey into the World since the accident.”
Friends and family have rallied around the Wheatleys, raising more than $35,000 of the set $40,000 goal in less than 24 hours.
“With all these unexpected medical costs coming up in the future months, years with Pats recovery and Pat also working for himself in construction and unable to do any work for the foreseeable future,” Jacob wrote.
“We ask our friends, family and the community to help this family through another tragic accident that has happened to them.”
