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Friends, family of quadriplegic Nova Scotia man rally to buy him a wheelchair van

Eric Heighton stands with his wife and CBC reporter Jennifer Henderson. He crushed his third vertebrae while sleepwalking.

Earlier this year, Eric Heighton lost a contest that would have won him a wheelchair-accessible van.

Friends and family of the quadriplegic navy veteran are determined to still get him one.

On January 1, 2003, just six months after retiring from the Canadian Navy, Heighton, now 54, of River John, Nova Scotia, fell down the stairs while sleepwalking and crushed his third vertebrae. He was left paralyzed from the neck down with only limited use of one hand.

While he can now get around his house, garage and yard in his electric scooter, Heighton is almost strictly housebound. Getting into the couple's car is exhausting — for both Heighton and his wife, Maxine.

"If Eric has an appointment, and that’s pretty much the only time he goes out, I have to take apart the push wheelchair, put it in the back of the truck," Maxine told the Truro Daily News. "I have to put it back together to get him in, take it apart and put it back in the truck. It’s a lot of work and it’s heavy."

"[So] I don't go anywhere," Heighton told CBC News. "I go as far as my wheelchair will take me."

If he had a van he could drive his wheelchair into, however, everything would be different. He would be able to attend his grandkids' birthday parties and football games. And he'd finally be able to get to see a NASCAR race in Daytona.

When Heighton entered a North American-wide contest to win a wheelchair van, an old high school friend reconnected with him. When Heighton placed fifth in the contest, Beth Sinnis decided to launch a new fundraising campaign to buy him the van he needs.

"Maxine made [the contest website] personal by posting little tidbits about their daily life. Everyone was drawn to that website. We all felt a personal connection to Eric and we wanted them to win," Sinnis told CBC News.

"So we were all very disappointed when they didn’t win. So I thought, why not try to fundraise instead of waiting another year to try and enter the contest again? They need it now."

Sinnis hopes to raise $80,000 for the Heightons.

Friends and strangers alike are donating money through a gofundme site set up for Heighton and through a trust fund set up at through Scotia Bank. (See here for details.)

"It would mean the difference in the lifestyle I got where I’m basically stuck at home to being able to get out around doing things," Heighton said of the difference the vehicle would make.

That includes visiting his grandchildren and going "anywhere there’s a NASCAR race," he said.