A community has rallied around a young family after the dad was injured during a horror crash.
Ben Rohleder was driving home to Cabarita in northeastern NSW from a worktrip in Brisbane on Thursday when his car ran off Clothiers Creek Road.
Mr Rohleder’s injured body sat in the car for hours before another driver noticed the wreckage and called emergency services.
A helicopter was used to find the father and rush him to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for a brain injury, multiple punctured organs and a shattered pelvis.
He remains in a coma and continues to undergo major surgery.
Mr Rohleder’s wife Courtney, who is seven months pregnant, received the dreaded knock at the door in the middle of the night and rushed to be by his side while family and friends are taking care of the couple’s two young children.
A GoFundMe has been created in support of the family, with organiser Alicia Hipwood saying the entire Casuarina community has rallied to help the Rohleder couple.
“Ben and Courtney would give you their own shirts off their back if you needed it and we saw that first hand in the recent Caba floods with Court at home making food packs for people and Ben out there helping people with the mess and the delivery of food,” Ms Hipwood wrote.
She said she hoped to raise some “much needed” funds to help the family through rigorous rehabilitation as well as a newborn baby in coming months.
According to Ms Hipwood, Ms Rohleder was “absolutely gobsmacked” at all the love and support the community is sending their way.
People leaving donations have described Mr Rohleder as a “legend” and a “true gentleman”.
“The kind of guy that would take the shirt off his back … Ben has a huge heart and great mates around him,” Daniel Watkins wrote.
In just three days since the fundraiser has been launched, it has received more than $51,000 donations from 679 people.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7y6Kdnqukrrmme9GemKVlnJ6zpnvNnq6sZZyes6Z7wZ6YnKCjnrGmecKopKatnp7BunnRmqOloZWoeqOxx6KlnWWppMKvs4yfmKahnK56orLTnqlmoJ%2Bnv7C%2BjJyYq2WTp660tI6nnLCrXajBsL7YaG9tcWmYhneCmGtnm5xmmoWispBqnXCZYJiDdK6Xa21r