Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey The Lafayette Lions Club presented Delsin Zamzow (center) with a $1,000 check to help renovate his home after a serious dirt-biking accident severely limited his mobility.

LAFAYETTE — The town of Lafayette came together Sunday to support one of their own as he adapts to a life in a wheel chair.

After falling off his dirt bike last spring, Delsin Zamzow become a quadriplegic. On Sunday, the Lafayette Area Lions Club used their annual Dad’s Belgian Waffle Breakfast fundraiser as a venue to raise money for necessary remodeling to Zamzow’s home.

“I am surprised that so many people came together from this little community,” Zamzow said. “I am glad that I have the family and the support that I do.”

The Lions added a silent auction to raise money for Zamzow. The funds from the roughly 130 donated items as well as direct donations from guests and a $1,000 donation from the Lions will go to Zamzow.

“I have really been thrilled at how our members have pitched in to work together on this,” Secretary Ruth Klossner said.

Donations for Zamzow started rolling in a week ago, after an article primarily penned by Klossner, who also serves as a media contact for the Lions chapter, ran in The Journal.

That Sunday afternoon Klossner received a call from former high school classmate Tim Mather living in Arizona who wanted to donate $200.

After his accident on May 31, 2017, Zamzow was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. Zamzow said he did a “wheelie” off a jump and fell off his bike while avoiding a tree. That is when he heard his neck crack.

He spent six weeks in intensive care before being moved to Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Center in Golden Valley.

He has been there ever since, going through physical therapy and adapting. At first Zamzow could not even move his head, but now he can control his arms and can pick up items that fit in his hand.

“Swimming is a big deal because of my arm strength and then my spasms, they got so bad — to the point where I was getting almost thrown out of my chair,” Zamzow said. “The pool has been helping me straighten out and get my body relaxed.”

Zamzow has a tray in his lap that has phones Velcroed to it and some of his homemade, adaptive hand tools. He uses the tray to write on and prevent dropping his tools.

“Not having my hands, that is the most challenging part, just for the fact that you need your hands for everything,” Zamzow said.

He has some movement in his hands now. Zamzow demonstrated how he can flex his wrists to get his hand to pinch down on an object.

Once the renovations are complete Zamzow will move back home. The largest part is raising counters and making storage space more shallow in the kitchen for ease of access.

Once he gets home, Zamzow said he will keep on adapting to his new reality.

“I am going to keep doing therapy, hopefully it is going to be three or four times a week,” Zamzow said. “I am going to keep getting stronger, adapting to new things and a new way of life.”

Connor Cummiskey can be emailed at ccummiskey@nujournal.com.