The Carp community is coming together to hold a fundraiser to help a 37-year-old west Ottawa man who was left a quadriplegic after a tragic collision last October.
Ricky Seegobin says he knows he's lucky to be alive after the car he was driving hit a moose on a dark highway near Edmonton while on a road trip to B.C.
Seegobin - a mechanic who had no health insurance - is now faced with the reality of life in a wheelchair.
"I kept thinking that this was going to go away. I thought it was going to go away for a while until I was probably at the Civic (hospital) and that's when it started to occur to me that this was not going to go away, this was the way it was going to be," Seegobin told CTV Ottawa.
"I just loved messing around with cars, hanging out with the guys, bonfires, beaches and having fun," he said of his life before the wheelchair.
Friend and business partner Rob Manship told CTV Ottawa the situation was "devastating" to Seegobin and those close to him.
He says support and donations from the community, however, has helped his friend cope.
"I can't get over how expensive it is. The wheelchair alone, I believe was over $30,000 and it's just incredible what these things cost," said Manship.
A fundraiser for Seegobin will be held Thursday night at the Carp Mess Hall at 2240 Craig Side Road at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at the door.
Those interested can contact Rob Manship at 613-831-2006 for more information.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Catherine Lathem
