GALVESTON, TX — A Waco family is in desperate need to bring their loved one home after a Galveston vacation turned into a nightmare.
30-year-old Adam Lupfer and his wife and friends were celebrating his graduation from plumbing apprenticeship into journeyman, by spending a weekend at a lake house in Bacliff near Galveston.
Together they spent the outdoors and fishing by the pier when Lupfer wanted to get in the water and dove headfirst into three-foot water.
He shattered his neck in 6 places, injuring his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed immediately.
"I told the boys I'm like 'hey Adam's floating, jump in there,' they're like 'oh he's just playing around, he's just playing around,' I'm like 'no, get in the water,'" says his wife Sarah Montgomery.
That's when his friends pulled Lupfer out of the water and he rushed to the hospital where he's in a medically induced coma.
Two weeks later his wife has not left his side.
"Even though he's down and sedated, he can still hear what I'm saying. I have to stay strong, if I'm not strong then I'm not going to be able to be strong for him. But if he sees that I'm down and I'm upset then he's going to feel the same way" says Montgomery
Their 9 and 3-year-old children have been in the care of relatives.
The family wants Lupfer to be closer to home and transferred to a hospital in Waco, but the over 200-mile transfer would cost $5,400.
"I honestly hope that will make Adam's mental state a little bit better. We're at home, were not five hours away, we have support there, we don't have support here," says Montgomery.
The doctors have told the family there's a 3% chance he recovers from paralysis.
Adding to the expenses as they anticipate renovating their home to be handicap accessible.
That's why the staff at the Hewitt Elk's Lodge in Lorena is organizing a benefit for the family on September 3rd and 4th.
"Why wouldn't we do this to help a fellow person get home. Always lending out a hand and helping other people," says Hewitt Elk's Lodge Secretary Jennifer Strangmeyer.
The bar will have a cook-off as well as live music, a corn hole tournament, silent auction and more, all proceeds to help the family.
"It's not just a bar it's the atmosphere, it's the atmosphere that everyone brings in here. It's like a family event everyone knows each other," says Hewitt Elk's Lodge Bar Manager, Kristi Fulp.
The Elks Lodge is still looking for donations for their silent auction, and is also putting together a benefit run for the family.
