But the overwhelming generosity and support shown by not just friends and family but the Tilligerry and wider Port Stephens community following the accident, helped with Mr Grover’s recovery and in getting him home to Lemon Tree Passage, broke through the darkness and brightened the couple’s lives.

“Thank you is all you can really say but it sounds pathetic,” Mr Grover said. “It’s not enough.”

More than $20,000 has been raised so far to help the Grovers since the incident which left the 68 year old paralysed from the waist down.

Mr Grover had been helping his nephew Tim clear trees off a block of land at Anna Bay on the morning of July 27 when a large branch fell and pinned him to a tree stump.

It was about lunch time when Mrs Grover, an aged care nurse who had been at home getting ready for work, received a phone call from Tim.

“He said ‘Kerry's been hurt really badly. The helicopter's coming’,” she said. “I just walked around in circles. I didn’t know what to do. It’s not the call you expect, especially at this stage of your lives.”

EARLIER STORY: Kerry’s long road to recovery after freak accident 

Mr Grover was airlifted in a critical condition to John Hunter Hospital where he had to be revived and stabilised before being flown to Royal North Shore Hospital.

An MRI revealed that Mr Grover had 12 broken vertebra, a punctured lung and every rib on the right side of his body was broken.

“He was in an induced coma for a week. That was scary,” Mrs Grover said. “Then he had delirium for five days but then he got really good. We were looking at six months in hospital but we were home in four.”

Mr Grover arrived home on November 30 after the family home was renovated to make it wheelchair friendly.

An online fundraiser and a large raffle, with prizes donated by 30 Tilligerry businesses, generated about $15,000 which allowed the family to carry out house renovations.

Timber flooring was installed, the bathroom widened and chair-friendly shower installed and the main bedroom extended. A ceiling hoist was also installed.

The work was carried out by the Grover’s two children, their partners and family friends during five weekends.

All materials for the renovations were provided at cost price.

Money raised through a second raffle in December, and from an upcoming charity golf day at Tanilba Bay Golf Club on February 10, will go towards buying a wheelchair-friendly car.

Currently, Mr Grover is unable to leave the house unless a community bus is used.

All are invited to join the golf day which will begin at 8.30am. Sign up at the golf club.

Mrs Grover said she did not know what the family would have done without the support of the community.

“We don't get any financial help from NDIS because it cuts off over 65. And because Kerry didn't have a car accident, we don't get anything,” she said.

“We had offers for help come in straight away. It just kind of snowballed. It was so humbling.

“We found it really hard to accept help because we're not that sort of people. We like to help others. But we had no choice because we couldn’t get any other help.

“I don't know how to say thank you to everyone. What they've done for us is beyond our wildest dreams because if they hadn't I wouldn't have been able to get him home and I don't know where we would've been.

“We're just so very grateful to everybody. It took our breath away. So many people care.”

Now home, Mr Grover is adjusting to life in a wheelchair. But he is not letting it get him down.

“People ask if I get depressed and I sort of wonder about it all but I basically won't let myself,” he said.

“Sure you do go ‘what if?’ But I forget about it and move on because what else can do you do? You just move on.

“There's no point dwelling on it. It won't change it. You have to go forward and make other changes to suit yourself.”