A volunteer who helped transport almost 350 tonnes of aid to front lines in Ukraine has been paralysed in a moped accident while on holiday in Spain.
Darius Linkus, 41, was involved in the crash with his wife Saule, 41, who was a passenger on the moped, also seriously injured.
They broke their necks, with Mrs Linkus breaking her right shoulder and losing some mobility in her arm.
Mr Linkus, however, received the diagnosis that he would not be able to walk again.
The couple, who live in Trimley St Mary, are in rehabilitation and a relative is helping to look after their three children.
Friend Oliver Horsman, 43, has now launched a fundraising bid to help the couple convert their downstairs toilet into a disabled bathroom, and their conservatory into a bedroom.
More than £4,000 had been donated towards an initial target of £10,000 within two days of the page going live.
He described Mr Linkus as a "proud man" who would not ask for help, but said he had finally agreed to Mr Horsman posting an online fundraising page on his behalf.
Mr Horsman said: "What happened to Darius and Saule was beyond unfair, especially after all the help he's given other people."
He added that after the crash, Mr Linkus was on the phone from his bed, still trying to arrange for generators to be delivered to people near front lines in Ukraine.
"It was a bit of a frog in throat moment," said Mr Horsman.
"He knew he was paralysed at that point, but he was like, ‘I’ve got to do something’.
"It’s pretty crazy that he now needs other people’s help really – pretty tragic."
The accident happened when Mrs and Mr Linkus, who are parents-of-three, went on holiday in September last year.
Mr Horsman added: "They bought a ticket to Spain for the weekend, rented a moped, and that was that. His front wheel hit a rock in the road.
"His wife was on the back of the moped with him. They were both wearing helmets, both within the speed limit, they were doing nothing silly.
"It was just how they fell.
"They both broke their necks – she, however, can walk, although she has very little mobility in her shoulder because that was shattered."
Mr Horsman said Mr Linkus, who works in import and export, was quick to help after war broke out in Ukraine last year.
"The war started and we were like, ‘Right, these people need help’,” said Mr Horsman, who works with tech start-ups.
"He said, ‘I’m going to fill up a van, I’m going to buy loads of stuff and I’m going to drive to Ukraine’.
"I was like, ‘Let’s be a little bit more measured than that, I’ll see if I can get some donations and I’ll come with you’."
He said that within three days of the war starting their Facebook post had been shared thousands of times.
“Literally it went insane,” said Mr Horsman.
“It ended up generating about 350 tonnes worth of aid.
“Through Darius’s connections he managed to sort out all the import/export paperwork, get all the fixers on the borders for these vans that were going over.
"I believe we were the first British aid van over the border into Ukraine. Other ones were rejected and not able to get across."
Support the fundraising here.
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