More brothers than friends, the group of boys were relaxing in Ball Park Lagoon when Josh Davis slipped off his friend’s shoulders.

The group of young men, who were visiting from Melbourne’s north, had already lost one of their own and now found themselves in another devastating situation.

Anthony Hopkins, 21, said Josh wasn’t drunk, he wasn’t being reckless: he just fell.

Now Josh, his family and friends have to come to terms with the fact he won’t walk again.

“He just lost balance and went into the river,” Anthony said.

“After that he was just floating face down, we weren’t sure if he was knocked out or playing or what was going on.

“One of our mates grabbed him, and flipped him over, he looked at me and said ‘I can’t feel my arms and legs, I can’t feel my arms and legs’.”

The boys called for help, and for 45 minutes Anthony held Josh’s head above water while his friend Kade lay down to support his body.

Josh was airlifted to the intensive care unit at the Alfred hospital, before being transferred to the spinal unit at the Austin hospital.

The 25-year-old injured his spine and neck,had had to have two vertebrae removed and has lost feeling below his shoulders. 

Anthony said Josh won’t be able to walk again, and still requires assistance breathing. 

“He’s going to need a lot of financial help from as many people as possible in his, I guess, journey to better health,” Anthony said. “He’s been told he can’t walk again and I’m still not sure about his arms, he’s slowly getting feeling back and he hasn’t moved yet.”

Because the accident didn’t occur in a boat or workplace, Josh is not eligible for TAC or Workcover, meaning his medical expenses and future physiotherapy or complimentary treatments will have to be covered by his family or friends. 

Anthony said a gofundme account had been set up online to help support Josh and his family with future and current expenses.

“He’s a hard working guy,” he said. 

“He had just bought a house by himself, he was a young but successful man, his future was very promising, he was going to go a lot of places.

“He’s an electrician, one of my closest mates. He would have done anything for anyone – something as simple as one of the boys, his old man needed help fixing a caravan in Corowa and Josh went all the way up to help.”

For the group of boys, who lost friend Patrick Cronin two years ago after he was coward punched, Josh’s accident was another devastating blow.

“Our group of mates have been very close the past couple of years,” Anthony said.

“We met through friends of friends and gradually the group grew to a nice size.

“Two years ago we had a mate die from a coward punch, it was as big set back for us but also made us close as a group.”

Anthony said those wishing to donate could visit Please Help Josh on Gofundme online.