Lifelong mates rally around young dad who became a quadriplegic after tragic fall

In a split second, three lives changed forever.

Pat Wheatley was going about his Sunday, like any Sunday.

His beer was chilling in the fridge and he was preparing to watch a Canberra Raiders game on TV, when he ducked out to the back paddocks of his NSW Central Coast home to exercise his pet horses.

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"Just like I do every other day. I've done it 1000 times before, and then just went down into the paddock," Pat told A Current Affair.

"And I don't know if something spooked him, or maybe the wind spooked him a bit."

He was on the back of his beloved horse Chief when he was thrown off.

A neighbour found Pat on his back and raised the alarm.

"And then next thing you know, I was on the ground, looking up, trying to get back up, and my legs just wouldn't really come back," Wheatley said.

He can't exactly recall what happened in that flash of a moment - but the stirrups were broken and snapped reins were in his listless hands.

"Next, you know, four ambulances were there, and then about an hour and a half later, a helicopter landed right next to me," he said.

His wife Elissa was there by his side.

"I remember Pat kept saying to me, 'Can you see my feet moving?' And I kept trying to tell him to just, you know, stay still and stay calm," she recalled.

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The accident left Pat in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic.

"Everything just went numb. One arm was moving, and that was it," he told A Current Affair's Neil Breen about the accident in July last year.

Adversity is nothing new for the Wheatleys.

Elissa herself was a jockey but a fall at Dubbo in 2022 left her fighting for life in a coma.

"Pat was a huge support to me in my time in hospital after I had my fall, and obviously helped me be able to recover how I have. And so now I'll be doing the same for Pat."

She has fought back from the brain injury she suffered, but can no longer ride, which is why Pat works the family horses.

"It breaks my heart what's happened to Pat, but there's nothing we can do," Elissa said.

"We're just gonna get through it the way that we can. And, yeah, keep pushing through when.

"And you know, he will keep trying to better himself. For Macey, we still obviously want to give her a good life."

Macey is the couple's bright and bubbly toddler.

With a small family to care for and Pat's livelihood taken away, the expenses are huge.

Special vehicles, a modified house, rehab - the list is endless.

So Pat's lifelong mates from Avoca Beach took it upon themselves to make his life as comfortable as possible.

"So we got the boys together and the Wheatley girls, and we started a committee to organise a fundraising lunch, and then we realised we needed some brains to the operation," Pat's friend said.

"So that's when Jo Starling got involved.

"We got the mums involved. A few weeks to go and touch wood we will raise some money for them."

They've formed a huge committee which meets at the Avoca Surf Club organising raffles, sausage sizzles and an enormous sportsman's lunch on February 22 at Wyong Leagues Club.

Two of those mates are NRL stars Tom Starling, who plays for the Canberra Raiders, and Connor Watson from the Sydney Roosters, who starred in last year's State of Origin series for the Blues.

They grew up together running amok on Avoca Beach.

"I see Pat as an older brother, so to see him, see him hurt like that, it was, it was devastating," Starling said.

"We've got a good community here, and everyone's behind him and helping him get through this injury.

"His family and his mates have all got his back, and we're gonna help him get through it."

Watson said: "One thing that I guess has been so inspiring for everyone through it is just Pat's attitude and his strength, his mental strength to just like, Get up and attack every day and try and improve."

They've been busy rustling up auction items for the fundraising lunch - and donating big items themselves, including Watson's State of Origin jersey from the game that broke NSW's dry spell, Starling's 100th game jersey and Kalyn Ponga's Queensland jersey.

Pat and Elissa are humbled by what their mates, and their mate's mums, are doing, especially after what happened to Elissa three years ago.

"We're also grateful, we had a lot of support when I had my accident, and it's like we we feel bad that we need it again, but we're very grateful that people want to support us a second time and help us however they can," she said.

Pat's home now after a gruelling six months of rehabilitation in Sydney.

Life will never be the same, but they have each other and a little girl they adore.

"These two here are the reason why I get up and try and get the best out of my day every day," Pat said.

Despite what happened, the family still venture down the driveway to the furthermost paddock to see Chief, the horse Pat was riding.

"I can tell by the way you've been nuzzling him you still love him," Neil said to Pat.

"Yeah, of course I do. I love him to bits. Don't blame him at all. Accidents happen all the time, but horses, they're wild animals, they are unpredictable. I've forgiven him."

For more information about Pat's story, click here.