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HELP A FELLOW AUSSIE and grab a WIN for yourself.Less than cost price for these All monies go to Alan and Michelle to assist them to raise 4 children while Alan mends his broken back after a Gym accident. Click Here to Buy these Products NOW Read the Full story Meet a dad who was left to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair after a freak gym accident. His family and friends have vowed to help him. You can, too. Every morning for the last 15 years, Alan Tremolada has gone to the gym. His philosophy, in keeping fit, was to ensure he would always be able to "keep up" with his four young children. But last month, while performing a routine exercise of leg squats on a machine, something went horribly wrong. "I picked it because it was safe," Alan said. "I tried to hook it and it wouldn't take. It collapsed on me. All 200kg came down on my back." "Only two things went through my mind at that point: 'what have I done to myself?' and 'just be calm, Alan'." The weights struck Alan's T11 and T12 vertebrae, crushing his spinal cord. "They asked me, 'could you move your legs?'," Alan said. "I could feel the message from my brain. I could sense it wouldn't go further. And that was it." Alan says he realised then he had become a paraplegic, a fear doctors confirmed after emergency surgery. Alan's wife Michelle says her life has been turned upside-down. "I cry on my own, I don't want to upset the kids," Michelle said. "My son is so strong, he's my rock." "I broke down in the car and he said, 'when we get home I'm going to give you a big hug'. You're not supposed to grow up that fast." With Alan in hospital, Michelle has become the soul carer of their four kids, all under the age of 10. As for their livelihood - a mobile coffee business - Michelle says she has no choice but to sell. And without a regular income, the brave mum says the family will have to move out of their Sydney home. "I've just got to make the most of it," Michelle said. "I'm not going to say 'I'm leaving Alan because he's in a wheelchair'. It's for better or for worse. This is the 'worse' bit." Immediately after the accident, Alan says he refused to confront the truth, choosing instead to cling to whatever hope his doctors offered of walking again someday. But this week, reality finally sunk in. "Yesterday, the whole situation hit me," he said. "I was sad all day." He says for a while he wanted to die. "I can't put my pants on," Alan said. "And if you're someone with dignity, you've got to let it go. You have to forget about dignity." Tony Joyce was training with Alan on the morning of the accident. He has now set up a fund for the family. "If there's ever a better time to help someone in need, or a family, it's now," Tony said. "...if people could please donate, it would make all the difference to Alan, Michelle and the family." While he struggles every day with his future, he has one very good reason not to give up. "I've got four kids to father and raise and I know they'll have me, anyway, so if it doesn't happen I'll make it OK," Alan said. Donations can be made at any Westpac bank, BSB Number: 032 123 Account Number: 215 411 (this account is a Rotary Club of Belrose account in trust for Alan Tremolada). Another way you can help is to buy personal development products at LESS THAN COST PRICE! from this fax back form or our online shop so everybody wins. REPORTER: Jackie Quist
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