Injured pastor's wish to be home by Christmas

A mountainbiking crash has left Rotorua pastor Timothy Lee a tetraplegic - but he's not letting that stop him doing what he loves.
He can't wait to get back to preaching to his congregation - and hopes to be home in time for Christmas.
Mr Lee suffered facial and spinal injuries in a May 31 mountainbiking crash in the Whakarewarewa Forest.
He is receiving treatment at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit in Otara after eight weeks of treatment at Middlemore Hospital.
He has told The Daily Post it has been "challenging" for the family to be apart, but he is visited by his wife, Jenny, and their two sons in Auckland once a week.
The Rotorua Baptist Church pastor said the family's faith in God was helping them through the ordeal.
Friends and family visit Mr Lee regularly and he said he was grateful for the support of the community in Rotorua, especially the people from local churches who had been meeting at his church on Tuesday nights to pray for his recovery.
Mr Lee's goal was to be back home in Rotorua by Christmas, but he hoped to have home visits on the weekends before then.
Mr Lee said he was "very enthusiastic" about getting back to work at the Rotorua Baptist Church.
Mrs Lee said "his heart is still about preaching and being the pastor at Rotorua Baptist".
He is now recovering from the crash and is receiving a full programme of therapy at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit.
"He's well, and it's about rehabilitation now," Mrs Lee said.
Mr Lee has feeling from his chest level up, but also has some movement in his hands and feet. Now his physiotherapy is geared towards controlling that movement.
Mr Lee told The Daily Post the therapy was initially about helping him to work towards the goal of functional movement with his arms and hands so he could operate his power wheelchair himself.
"I think all of it will probably come. It's about relearning," Mrs Lee said.
Mr Lee is learning to move in his wheelchair.
His timetable changes each week depending on his progress and what he needs to work on.
Mrs Lee said the family had received a lot of support over the past few months.
She said she felt "numb" after the crash "because you never think these things will happen to you and your family".
Staff at Rotorua Hospital were "fantastic", she said.
About 20 people gathered at hospital emergency department the day of the crash and hospital staff let them stay, she said.
"To have people around helped the situation a lot so I was very glad the ICU was so understanding."
Mr Lee was flown to Middlemore Hospital where he received treatment for eight weeks, before being moved to the spinal rehabilitation unit.
Mrs Lee said the community support had been overwhelming, with people sending flowers, meals, petrol vouchers, financial support and even helping with the family's laundry.
"We were absolutely blown away with the support," Mrs Lee said.
Three months after the crash, that support was still there, she said.