Community rallies behind Warnbro man paralysed in horror surfing accident

Monday, 11 March 2024 09:09

By Monique Welhan

The community is rallying behind a Warnbro man who was left paralysed after a horror surfing accident.

Dean Amos, an experienced surfer, headed to Secret Harbour Beach on Australia Day for his usual morning surf.

Little did he know, he would be dumped head first onto a shallow sand bar, breaking his neck and becoming immediately paralysed from the chest down.

Dean was face down in the water and unable to move until a wave flipped him onto his back.

Luckily, nearby surfers saw he was in trouble and quickly came to his rescue, floating him back to shore before paramedics were called.

Dean, who had only just married his wife Becky less than a year ago, is now at Fiona Stanley Hospital undergoing rehab.

They recently bought their first home together, a 1970s doer upper in Warnbro, which they were renovating themselves.

But now they need more help than ever to finish the renovation and make their house fully accessible so Dean can return home.

"Internal building works to widen doorways, knock walls out, upgrade electrics & plumbing ($40k), design & install an accessible kitchen ($50k), rip out & replace the bathroom with a larger wet-room ($35k), install hard-flooring throughout for wheelchair use ($15k), and install hoist systems ($25k)," the GoFundMe page read.

"Outside the driveway needs to be widened, paths improved, entrances ramped & external doors widened.

"We hope to achieve this within the next 6 months so that Dean can be released from rehab and come home to Becky, to begin rebuilding their lives."

The GoFundMe page has already raised over $14,000.