Family raise over €21k for NRH after father’s life-changing farming accident

A Carrigallen family has raised an extraordinary €21,104 for the National Rehabilitation Hospital in gratitude for the care that helped an 82-year-old farmer regain independence after a devastating quad accident.

Helena McGovern organised the fundraiser in honour of her father, James Grimes, who sustained catastrophic spinal injuries when he fell from his quad while fencing sheep on June 5 two years ago.

“We can’t believe it ourselves — it’s a huge amount of money,” Helena said of the final total. “This is about how amazing the NRH is.”

Mr Grimes had started the day like any other on the farm — pulling cabbage for dinner and doing routine jobs — before heading out to fence sheep. The accident that followed was, in Helena’s words, “a complete freak accident.”

He never lost consciousness but suffered multiple fractures, including broken vertebrae and a displaced breastbone. Emergency services airlifted him from the field to hospital, where doctors warned surgery would be “touch and go” due to his age, reduced heart function and blood thinners.

He spent 10 days in intensive care and 17 weeks in the Mater Hospital before transferring to rehabilitation.

His spinal injury, at T4–T5 level, left him paralysed from the lower diaphragm down.

“From the day it happened, he had very positive thinking and a very strong will,” Helena said. “That’s what carried him.”

Mr Grimes later transferred to the NRH in Dún Laoghaire, where he remained until April.

Helena credits the specialist team there with transforming her father’s quality of life.

“They took a chance on him at 82 years of age and worked with him to better his life,” she said. “Now he’s home with carers, he can move around the kitchen, go up to his room, and even get out and about when the weather is good. I had him at a funeral today — that’s how far he’s come.”

A keen reader, Mr Grimes keeps up with local news and enjoys daily visitors. His wide circle of friends and connections helped drive the fundraiser’s success.

The money was raised at a community coffee day hosted in a newly built shed on the family farm. What began at noon ran until 7pm, serving coffee and hot whiskeys to a steady crowd of supporters.

Local Harrier's Hunt members also contributed collections from their meet that day.

“It just grew arms and legs,” Helena said. “People wanted to support Daddy.”

The funds will be transferred to the NRH, where the family hopes to establish a James Grimes Patient Comfort Fund to support people on the spinal injuries ward.

Helena also hopes her father’s story serves as a gentle reminder about farm safety.

“Farmers are under huge pressure — watching the clock, the weather and even the neighbour,” she said. “That pressure can lead to rushing. Accidents happen in seconds.”

For the Grimes family, the fundraiser is ultimately about gratitude.

“The morale up there, the care, what they do for people — it’s unbelievable,” Helena said. “We just wanted to give something back.”