Claudio Marchetti wipes away tears when he talks about being in Hamilton's Regional Rehabilitation Centre after suddenly losing the use of his legs in April.

He's not crying because he has to be there. He's crying because he gets to be.

"This is the best place in the world," said the 53-year-old. "It's a blessing."

He talks about the miracles he sees happening around him: a man who lost both legs and all fingers to an infection and spent seven months doggedly relearning to walk and feed himself; another who broke his neck in a mountain-biking accident and walked after doctors said he wouldn't.

"You get out what you put into this place," he said quietly. "Lots of people don't get to come here. I am lucky."

Marchetti and his wife Cindy Ridos have been deeply moved by the caring of medical staff, the generosity of their friends, even strangers, and the courage of other patients at the centre, part of the Hamilton General Hospital campus. The sunny, bright rehab centre opened in 2009, replacing the aging facility at Chedoke and others scattered around the city.

While her husband spends a lot of time talking about how hard other patients are working, Ridos reminds him of the tenacity and determination he has shown since a blood clot damaged his spinal cord.

He says doctors told him he'd have a 50/50 chance of walking after his April 21 surgery. He now has sensation in his legs and feet but no voluntary movement.

He's in intensive rehabilitation to build his upper body strength and learn how to move safely from his bed to a wheelchair and back again. Ridos says it might seem like an easy thing to do, but she tried it and it's not.

Marchetti says he has to relearn his own centre of gravity and although he's only a few feet off the ground when transferring his weight, "it might as well be a mile."

"It's very frightening."

The couple had friends over on April 20 and Marchetti was getting set to run some errands. But his back started to hurt and within a few hours he told Ridos to call an ambulance. He had thrown his back out before but this pain and numbness in his legs was different.

An MRI told the story. The couple was in shock and in many ways, they still are.

The reality hasn't completely sunk in, though there is little time to ponder. Marchetti will be discharged from the rehab centre on July 7 to return home. Work crews are there now, gutting the bathroom of the couple's Mountain bungalow to accommodate Marchetti's wheelchair. Doors have to be widened and a ramp built to the front door.

Though the contractor has discounted his work, and friends are pitching in to build the ramp, the renovations will be costly.

Ridos, a social worker in Hamilton, is afraid to ask just how much.

So friends have organized a fundraiser to help the couple. It will be held June 14 at 7 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion on Limeridge Road. Tickets are $10 and available at the door.

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There is also a bank account for donations: Canada Trust, branch 160, account 6455053.

Organizers Cobi Gilmour and Linda Linklater say offers of help and donations have come from far and wide, including people who don't know the couple personally.

"Everyone just loves Claudio," said Linklater. "He inspires the good in everyone else."

Gilmour's son Ryan Baiton, 20, says Marchetti is a role model for the kind of man he wants to be: "He's always believed in me. I lost all confidence in myself but he helped me believe in myself again."

Marchetti has a kind spirit and infectious sense of humour, says Gilmour.

"He brightens up a room. It's not a party unless Claudio is there. He just brightens everything."

Marchetti, who was an investment adviser at a bank, lost his job in 2007. He went back to school to learn commercial insurance and graduated in 2011. He's been looking for work since but hasn't got a single interview out of his hundreds of applications. He believes his age puts employers off.

Yet, despite all of it, he feels fortunate. Fortunate to be getting care at a state-of-the-art rehab centre, fortunate to have dedicated family and friends who are determined to help, fortunate to have his wife of almost 21 years by his side.

In fact, in the midst of it all, both talk about how they can repay the kindness shown to them.

"It just makes you want to pay it forward after you've been given so much," said Ridos.