ALMOST a decade ago, former Naracoorte man Charles Brice’s life changed in an instant when he was thrown from his motorbike in a freak accident and severed his spinal cord.
In June 2010, Mr Brice was riding with friends when he hit a bump and landed on his head, fracturing his C5 and C6 vertebrae and leaving him wheelchair bound.
The 29-year-old now focuses his time and effort into raising funds for spinal cord research and working between his two part-time jobs.
Last year, Mr Brice completed an epic 300km journey on a hand-powered modified vehicle along the same route of his life changing crash, raising $141,000 for spinal cord research.
Inspired by Mr Brice’s story, Naracoorte Seeds general manager Jamie Tidy is leading the charge and raising funds for a vehicle for Mr Brice.
The seed stockists will donate $5 from every 25kg bag of winter seed sold towards the purchase of a van, which will be modified for Mr Brice to drive.
“He was my next door neighbour growing up and one of his best friends started working for us a few years ago,” Mr Tidy said.
“We are doing this because Charles has come a long way in the past 10 years, but the last step in independence will be for him to be able to not have to rely on other people driving him around.
“If he wants to come home to visit friends in Naracoorte or just go for a cruise he will be able to do so.”
Mr Tidy hoped to raise up to $10,000 for the vehicle.
Mr Brice said he was grateful for the support.
“I have known Jamie for as long as I can remember,” he said.
“They have always been very supportive so I am not surprised they have generated the idea to do this for me.
“The whole team at Naracoorte Seeds are amazing people who want to help me out as much as they can and I’m very grateful for that.”
