A Polish man living in Tipperary with his family was involved in a freak accident which has left him paralysed.

Dariusz Swierkosz was on holiday in Poland when he was jumping on a trampoline with his children on January 26 last year.

He tried a jump and ended up falling directly on his head.

His friend Stephen King explained that Dariusz is ‘an athletic guy who’s done wrestling and gymnastics for years — this is a freak accident for him.’

Dariusz, who is originally from Zabrze, Poland, now lives in Dromin Village in Nenagh, Tipperary with his wife Justyna and their children, a four-year-old and a one-year-old.

He has lived in Nenagh for over a decade, working in a local Lidl for 13 to 14 years, Stephen tells Extra.ie.

It was at that store where Dariusz met Justyna and both are very involved in the community.

Dariusz is one of the founders of Nenagh Warriors, a local gym, who have rallied together to fundraise for the 37-year-old’s treatment.

He’s currently in ICU and is suffering from a lung infection. Stephen hopes the money raised will ease the family’s financial worries so they can focus on Dariusz getting better.

Speaking about his condition, Stephen said: ‘He has crushed his cervical vertebrae and is paralyzed from the neck down.

‘He is still in the ICU, and cannot breathe without machine assisted ventilation. He’s in and out of consciousness and isn’t completely able to communicate.

‘The doctors are saying to wait for a week or so until the swelling and inflammation goes down before they can fully assess the situation, but its looking like he’ll need 24\7 care for the future. It’s basically the same injury Christopher Reeve suffered.’

Dariusz helped start Nenagh Warriors, a family oriented martial arts gym.

Stephen explained that most of the people who train with them bring their kids along and everyone trains together ‘so it’s a tight group’.

He continued: ‘He represented the club at various competitions over the past few years and has always been good to help others out with his time.

‘It’s hard to state how much respect we have for the guy — he’s an absolute gentleman.

‘Setting up the GoFundMe was just something we thought we would do to get some support for him and the family for the medical fees — at least to try take some weight off their minds and at least make us feel a bit less helpless.

‘We’re organizing some other collections locally etc in the next week or two as well.

‘The goal we’ve set, €20,000, will just about cover his first four months of physiotherapy — before any other costs come in.

‘We’ve been bowled over by the response from the community, Polish and Irish. We’ve been getting donations from across the country and Europe, we didn’t think it would go this far.’

If you wish, you can donate to the Nenagh Warriors GoFundMe for Dariusz here.