AUBURN – When Bob Hayes recalls the first time he saw his son in a rehab center in Georgia, he can’t speak.

The image of 30-year-old Ben – an athlete, real estate specialist, husband and new father – paralyzed by a freak accident just before Christmas, is too much to bear.

“I wasn’t sure how I’d find him,” he said, his voice trailing off, his eyes seeking those of Ben’s godmother, Pat Gautier, as they spoke on Tuesday.

“It’s been an emotional and physical ride for everybody,” she said warmly. “We all understand.”

Her compassion is underscored by the fluke nature of the tragedy that left Ben, an Auburn native, without the use of his arms or legs. Hayes, a local ski coach who spent six years with the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, was out with friends in Minot when – just for fun – he decided to slide down a snowy embankment on his belly.

“Ben’s a skier and I’ve seen him take some horrendous tumbles,” said Hayes. “Then this one time … sliding down a snowbank, he caught something that snapped his neck.”

His friends – who, at first, didn’t believe it when Ben said he couldn’t move – called 911. Local EMTs brought him to Central Maine Medical Center, before he was transported to Maine Medical Center where surgeons realigned his vertebrae.

“They recognized then that the spinal cord was not severed,” he said. “Now it’s a matter of time to see what the recovery is.”

Since early January, Ben has been at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a rehab facility for people with spinal cord injuries. Diagnosed with a C-5 spinal injury (a cervical vertebrae in the neck), he has some feeling in his shoulders, upper chest and in his arms to his elbows, said his father.

His wife, Erin, and 6-month-old daughter, Isabel, are there with him, helping him daily with occupational and physical therapy. They are buoyed by family, who’ve taken turns flying down on weekends, and friends, who are rallying with support of every kind.

“It’s so overwhelming,” said Erin Hayes, who said she and Ben are deeply grateful. “We are surrounded by wonderful people.”

A core of those people formed the Ben Hayes Support Fund Committee, which is hosting a spaghetti supper fundraiser this Sunday at Lost Valley. The supper is the first event to help the family defray the cost of modifying their Lewiston home for wheelchair access, as well as purchasing the special equipment Ben will need once he returns home in May.

“He made a promise to his mother that he’ll be back to work by June 1,” said Hayes, smiling at his son’s tenacity.

Hayes visited with his son last weekend; the trepidation he felt from that first visit is gone.

“He’s the same old Ben,” he said, noting his son’s sense of humor, intelligence and work ethic remain intact.

Ben’s employer, Hannaford Bros., is planning its own fundraisers to support the family, as is Erin’s employer, Inverness Medical. Even Isabel’s day care center is lending a hand.

As owner of J.L. Hayes feed store and a longtime city councilman, Hayes and his wife, Bonnie (who serves on the School Committee), are well known in the community. As word of Ben’s situation spreads, people have been eager to help.

Recently Hayes said Mayor John Jenkins asked about where Ben was having his rehab.

“I said Atlanta and he said ‘I’ve got friends down there!’ said Hayes. Soon after, a friend of Jenkins’ offered the extended use of her condo to Erin, Isabel and Erin’s mom, who is staying with them.

Other friends have launched a Web site, www.supporthayes.com, to post updates on Ben’s recovery and publicize fundraisers, and to link with Ben’s personal page at the rehab site. Paul Badeau, one of the Web site volunteers and a co-worker of Ben’s from the growth council, was grateful for a chance to help.

“Obviously, as an employee here, he’s been very close to us, very dear to us,” said Badeau. “Here’s a great guy, in the prime of his life with a new job, a new little girl and then this horrible injury. It’s just so tragic.”

Erin said she is remaining optimistic, drawing strength from the other patients and their families at the Shepherd Center. Each spinal injury is its own case. Recoveries can occur within months of the injury, to several years, to not at all.

“That’s the thing with spinal cord injuries, no one really knows,” she said. “You can’t really know the extent of the damage, but a lot of people with the same injury as Ben’s have made incredible recoveries.”

Gautier said if there’s been any silver lining to this whole episode, it’s the devotion she’s seen Erin display in caring for her husband of two years, as well as their ever-increasing network of support.

“There’s been a circle of support … it’s amazing how people are coming together,” said Gautier. “… the circle keeps getting bigger, Bob.”