RUGBY stalwart John Blower's life changed dramatically on December 6.

He was playing his beloved rugby when he was paralysed from the neck down following a freak accident when the scrum collapsed on him.

He was rushed to Warrington General Hospital then on to Southport General, where it is expected he will remain for at least six to nine months.

His family and friends have rallied round, with wife Julie, 38, spending the majority of her time with him at the hospital.

The children, Natalie, 20, Christopher, 17, and Paul, 14, look after things at the family home in Winnington with the help of John's parents, who live eight doors away, and the constant stream of visitors.

An appeal fund has been launched to help John when he is eventually able to come out of hospital, but Julie says that for the moment they are taking things one step at a time.

'He has just done 24 hours off a respirator, and the doctors will now look at the capacity in his lungs as well as volume,' she said. 'Next, I think they will try him for 72 hours off the ventilator and if he does that then they will remove the tracheostomy from his throat.

'He is in the high-dependency unit. Everyone else who is in there is on a ventilator and most of them will be going home like that, so if he can come off it then he will have done really well - it will make a big difference to his quality of life.'

The injury occurred in a match for the Northwich club against local rivals Warrington just two minutes before half time, when he was due to be substituted.

His injuries are expected to be permanent, and Julie said: 'He has dislocated his neck and the ligaments have torn. He has basically got a halo screwed into his head. In about six or seven weeks they will start to remove the frame to see how he is. The doctors will be looking to see if there is any movement, and to make sure that any he does have is not too flexible. If he does get any movement back it is likely to be just at the top of his arms, but we can still hope.'

'I find the whole thing more real when I come home. When I am at the hospital I can stay with him to 9.30 at night and then I go back to a sleeping room at the hospital. I think at the moment we are in our own little cocoon.

'I am finding it harder at home as the chances of him even being able to come back to this house are small, and we have been living here for 19 years. It could be anything from six to nine months before he is released, when they start working on physio and rehabilitation, and then I could come home more.'

She added: 'I felt as if I was tearing myself in two at first because I wanted to be at the hospital but I knew that the kids were at home in Northwich going to school and work, but they are a little older and Natalie, our eldest, was here and there were lots of people coming round.

'The kids have been very supportive and feel better that I am at the hospital, they have been very understanding. John has found my being there very helpful - he can't move at all, he is just staring at the ceiling, having someone there keeps his mind alert.'

As to how John's injury has affected the couple's children, Julie says they have accepted the situation well.

She said: 'When people have gone to see him, they have been gaining strength from him. He has always been very realistic about everything. He realises the extent of his injuries, he wants to do all he can to come home. He has not been bitter, so many of the people with similar injuries in the hospital have been caused by tripping up or something.

'It was always a bit of a joke in work - they expected me to always be at hospital with John or my two sons, who also play rugby. When Phil Clarke, from the club, phoned me, they knew straight away it was serious and he was still on the pitch at this point. He phoned me and said he had been injured. I replied 'what is it now?' When they told me he couldn't feel anything, never in a million years did I think he would be paralysed.

'Even when they did an X-ray and told us that he'd dislocated his neck, that it would probably be permanent and that the next 48 hours would be crucial, even then, I just thought it might be OK after those two days.'

Julie said: 'Thankfully, he got straight into the spinal unit at Southport, some people wait a long time to get in there. Doctors got him stable but then they said the injury was progressing further up his spine and that he needed to go on a life-support machine.

'To me, that means that is it. They went and asked him whether he wanted to go on it and took his thumb print for his consent - I was in no fit state.

'I did not expect that he'd go on to life support, though I could see that his breathing was getting very shallow, it just did not occur to me. Everyone at the hospital has been fantastic though.'

John and Julie's work colleagues have been supportive too - but for now it seems the family has no other option but to take it one day at a time.

Julie added: 'We had our whole lives planned out, I am 38, John is 44, we had our kids early and people used to say they wished they had done it this way round as we were still young enough to enjoy our lives together. Within about a minute everything has been completely turned upside down.

'We're taking it literally one day at a time, when the hospital feels it is right for him then they will let him come on home visits and they will let me know. They can't give me any more than that.

'When he does get out I just want to be able to give him the best quality life he can have. I work at First Choice Airways, they have been absolutely fantastic, they have said I can take as much time off as I want and I don't have to worry about anything - my job will still be there for me. John's employers at Il-ford Imaging UK Limited have also been just as good.

'Everyone has just been fantastic. As well as the family, a lot of people who know him have been affected by it.'

She added: 'When he leaves hospital it will be like a new chapter in his life. I want him to have the best he can have and live his life to the full.

'He still wants to be involved in the rugby club. A lot of blokes down there thought it could have been them. I know that he is popular and has got a lot of friends, he will do anything for anybody so while I am over-whelmed I am not particularly surprised by all the support he has received.'