Last year, a tragic accident forever changed the life of a Granby man and now it could be forcing him to change his family home.

Dean Hatch worked as a truck driver for 30 years and while he feels lucky to be alive he says to live in his own home has become a constant struggle.

In February of 2007, Hatch was crushed under dozens of pipes that rolled off a truck. The accident left two thirds of his body paralyzed.
As if that wasn't enough, life in his Granby home has become a daily battle.

Hatch says, "It's been rough, it's nothing like I could have ever imagined and the house here is just too old and it's been hard to maneuver."

Hatch says he's even unable to put up Christmas decorations which made his house the star of the neighborhood. Just months before he was injured, we featured his house on the news because it was attracting people from all over.

The plan now is to build a new house on Hatch's property. A house where he, his wife and their pot belly pig, Stella, can be together.

Hatch says the house will include better ramps, wider doorways and a different bathroom setup and everything will be completely handicap accessible.

But his plans may just be a dream.

Hatch's close friend Brian Birmingham says, "Because the accident happened while he was working it follows under the workman's comp law so there is only one lump sum and so he received not enough money to build a house and to knock down the existing house."

Hatch's new home will cost nearly $260,000.

Hatch says, "We've come up with about $130,000 short on the cost of the new house and we're trying to make up that difference."

It's something Hatch's friends are trying to fix.

If you would like to help out Dean Hatch, his friends have created a website you can use.

Just log onto www.deanhatch.com