Dear friends, family, and members of our community,

We are reaching out to you today with heavy hearts, but with an enduring hope to bring home a man who has spent his entire life lifting up others.

On February 5, our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Warren McDonough, suffered a catastrophic accident. While cycling downhill on his local street, Warren’s front wheel struck a severe pothole, dislodging the wheel and causing a devastating crash. He broke his neck, sustaining a C1 spinal injury and an ASIA A spinal cord injury.

Since that life altering day, Warren has been fighting for his life in hospitals across Hobart and Melbourne. The reality we face today is profoundly difficult: Warren has lost all movement in his limbs and is entirely dependent on a ventilator to breathe. He has spent the last six months away from home, working through the immense physical and emotional toll of this injury with the same determination he has always shown.

A Life Dedicated to Community

For 42 years, Warren was the lifeblood of physical education in Northern Tasmania. As a teacher, he taught generations of children the joy of movement, teamwork and resilience. He also spent time working for the Northern High School Sports Association organising weekend sport and inter high sports carnivals. Beyond the classroom, Warren spent countless hours coaching and managing sporting teams, ensuring every child had a chance to play and thrive.

Warren’s generosity didn’t stop at the school gates. He has always been deeply community minded, a proud union campaigner advocating for better public education, a passionate voice for Sepsis awareness in Tasmania, and a dedicated, regular plasma donor. He is a man who always showed up for his community. Now, it is our turn to show up for him.

The Heart of Our Family

More than anything else, Warren is a family man. He and his wife, Debbie, share a beautiful life centred around their children, Jamie (33) and Shaun (32), and their three young grandchildren: Otis (7), Iris (5), and Fern (3).

Before the accident, Warren’s days were defined by his grandchildren. He built a house for his daughter and grandkids on the very same block where he and Debbie live, just so they could always be close. Every day, Warren would walk with the kids to collect fresh eggs from the chooks and gather the mail from the letterbox. He was a constant, hands on presence, regularly taking them to swimming lessons and helping with childcare while his daughter worked.

Warren’s grandchildren are his absolute world, and his deepest, most desperate wish is simply to come home to them and to watch them grow from his own living room on the land he loves.

The Crucial Challenge: Why We Need Your Help

Bringing a ventilator dependent quadriplegic patient requires an astronomical level of specialized support. Because Warren is 70 years old, he faces a devastating systemic gap. He does not qualify for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding due to strict age limits. Instead, he must rely on the Aged Care system, which unfortunately provides nowhere near the level of funding required to manage acute, 24/7 spinal care and mechanical ventilation needs.

The financial burden falling upon our family is overwhelming. To bring Warren home safely and give him the quality of life he deserves, we must independently fund:

• Extensive Home Modifications: Transforming his home into a fully accessible space, including specialized room configurations to house a mechanical ventilator and emergency backup power systems.

• Specialized Equipment: Acquiring an advanced wheelchair, a specialized hospital-grade bed, hoists, and continuous respiratory monitoring tools.

• An Accessible Vehicle: Purchasing a specialized, modified vehicle that can safely transport Warren and his large power chair and ventilator equipment to medical appointments.

• Ongoing Complex Care: Funding the vital nursing care required to manage his daily ventilator and physical needs.

How You Can Make a Difference

Warren has spent four decades building up the community of Northern Tasmania and supporting his family with every ounce of his energy. He has so much left to give, and his grandchildren need him.

Every single dollar raised through this page will go directly into an account used exclusively for Warren's care, equipment, and home modifications. Our initial goal reflects only the first stage of what Warren needs; priority equipment and the essential start to making our home safe for him to return. The true cost of his ongoing care and full home access will be far greater, and we will update this page as those needs become clearer. If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing his story with your networks, your local sporting clubs, or anyone whose life was touched by Warren over his 42-year teaching career or community involvement.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness and your generosity. Let’s bring Wazza home.

With love and gratitude,

The McDonough Family