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It may have been Father’s Day weekend, but the best gift for one father did not come from his child. It came from a friend who saved his life.
Thomas Gaddy was involved in an accident at his pool near Endy Saturday night, according to Danielle Speights, who identified herself as being married to Gaddy’s cousin.
Speights organized a GoFundMe page Sunday to help raise funds for his family after Gaddy was left presumably paralyzed following a dive into the pool.
“His day started like any other day,” Speights said. “He went and mowed some yards he had to mow, caught some fish, worked on a motor bike and then fired up the grill to start cooking some steaks.”
Speights said Gaddy then said he was “going to jump in the pool to cool off.”
Speights said even though Gaddy had jumped in the pool many times before, this time he landed on the edge between the 3 feet side and a deep end.
“When he dove in he was instantly paralyzed,” she said. “His friend had to pull him out.”
She estimates he was “under for probably a minute.”
“I am not at liberty to discuss specifics related to a medical call in order to protect the privacy rights of patients,” EMS Chief Dale Chandler said when asked for an account of the incident.
Speights said she was told Gaddy suffered a spinal cord injury between his C4 and C5 vertebrae, breaking his neck. He has no feeling below his shoulders.
She said surgery occurred within four hours of the accident, giving his family hope of some kind of recovery.
“He has been able to breathe on his own which is great,” she said.
Gaddy is a single father of two sons, a 18-year-old and a 13-year-old.
Anyone wishing to donate may visit the GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-thomas-gaddys-road-to-recovery.