East Bridgewater Family In Need After Father Paralyzed In Freak Accident

EAST BRIDGEWATER (CBS) - An East Bridgewater family is in need over the holidays after a severe accident that broke a man's neck and crushed his spinal cord. Aaron Gross had to be airlifted to a hospital after he slipped and fell in the bathroom in the middle of the night and hit his head on the bathtub.

"We had so many dreams we have to put on hold now," Gross' wife Brooke said. "Everything's going to change. Everything."

In just one instant, the family's world was turned upside down. Just days before Christmas, Aaron Gross, a husband, dad, and veteran, suffered a freak accident in his home.

"I could hear him screaming my name. I could definitely tell something was wrong. I ran out and he was face forward on the ground," said Brooke, who found him on the bathroom floor.

The 38-year-old doesn't know if he slipped, or passed out. But his injuries are debilitating.

"He severed his spinal cord and crushed every single bone in his neck," she said.

Brooke, who's expecting their third baby this spring, is trying to keep things normal for their girls – 12 and 2 years old. Christmas was in the ICU.

"It was still fun. We still got to open them and he was there. I just like to talk to him and make him feel as normal as I can so it's not like he's in the hospital," said the couple's 12-year-old daughter.

And her dad is still in there.

"Everything else is him. His personality. His humor," Brooke said.

The couple just bought their home a couple years ago. Aaron, an overnight corrections officer pursuing his bachelor's degree, was the sole provider.

"We won't know for at least a year what his prognosis is. As of right now he's paralyzed from the chest down. He doesn't feel anything," Brooke explained.

The people who love him, left struggling to accept how something so tragic could happen to someone so good.

"People always say people don't deserve this," Brooke said. "He's so upbeat, so funny. There's never a time he's not trying to be a friend with you. He's a very special person."

The year 2020 already feels incredibly overwhelming for the family, focusing on his rehab and recovery and welcoming a baby son. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support them.