During his 22 years as a firefighter, Dave Galvin faced a lot of perilous situations.

But it was a seemingly innocuous incident last September that left the husband and father of two from Wights Mountain confined to life in a wheelchair.

“We were on holidays at Tallebudgera and Dave and (daughter) Lauren… were at the beach and decided to have a swimming race,” Dave’s wife Renee Galvin recalls.

“He ran down to the beach after her and dived in, but the water was shallow and he hit his head and broke his neck.

“Lauren and her friend got out of the water and they couldn’t see him, but they saw his pants floating in the water, and Lauren ran down to the beach and dragged him out of the water.”

After an ambulance arrived and Dave was immobilised and treated for respiratory difficulties, the Galvins received the devastating news that would change their lives – Dave was now a quadriplegic.

“He did technical rescue training for swimming for the Fire Service, where he taught people to do things like testing the water depth before diving in,” Renee said. “He felt so stupid that he could have been so careless.”

Compounding his broken neck, Dave suffered a stroke soon after the accident and has been in the spinal injury ward of the Princess Alexandra Hospital since.

“He’s got no feeling below the neck at all, he can’t lift his arms and he’s lost vision in the right side of his eyes,” said Renee, whose husband has lost 20kg since the accident.  It could have been a lot worse. There was a real fear that he could have been brain dead and that they would turn off his life support.”

It isn’t the first time tragedy has hit the Galvin family. Seven years ago Dave and Renee were passengers in a high-speed car crash during a test drive that left Renee with a broken back and in a full body brace for three months.

“This latest one (Dave’s spinal injury) is a lot tougher – it’s been quite tumultuous actually and extremely tough on everybody,” Renee said.

“I’ve been at the hospital nine hours a day every day since the accident, with the exception of three days. Dave’s still on long service leave and the way things are going it looks like we’re going to have to live off his superannuation.”

The Galvins have been buoyed by the support of the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, which has raised more than $50,000 for the family.

“We’re aiming to raise enough money to purchase a wheelchair-friendly vehicle that can be modified, so Dave can get a lift into the rear of the car and drive all the way to the front to the passenger side,” QFRS spokesman David Sutch said.

Mr Sutch said the cost of the vehicle and its modification, which would “help to give Dave as much mobility as possible”, would be between $80,000 and $90,000.

The Samford community will continue its support when Samford Scouts, where Dave served as a Scout Leader for nine years, hosts a fundraiser on 25 July at 11am.

Funds raised from the event, which will feature a barbeque roast lunch, bar, campfire and entertainment, will help pay for renovations to make the Galvin family home wheelchair-friendly ahead of Dave’s long-awaited return to Samford in August.

Tickets for the fundraiser at the Samford Scout Den, Cash Avenue, Samford Village, are $25 per adult and $10 for children. For bookings phone Ain Kuru on 3289 3891.