FRIENDS of a rugby player seriously injured in a road crash in New Zealand are staging a special family day today to raise funds to help fly him home for rehabilitation.

Joe Sandford, who played for Heathfield and Waldron Rugby Club, was injured when the car he was driving to a beauty spot in the North Island crashed on July 2.

The talented sportsman, 22, suffered broken vertebra, a broken pelvis and ruptured spleen.

Doctors have warned his distraught family that they cannot yet tell how much brain damage the crash has caused.

He was two-thirds of the way through a rugby scholarship he won through Heathfield and Waldron RFC – a club he had played for since the age of 14.

It is feared he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Now his club has decided to stage the family afternoon in a friendly pub-style tournament to help with the future needs of Joe.

Organiser Mike Barber said: "It came as a terrible shock to us because Joe is so popular and highly-regarded by everyone who knows him.

"It will be a long road to recovery for Joe, and as a tight-knit rugby community we just felt we wanted to do something.

"The response from the local rugby family has been overwhelming, and we want to show Joe we are supporting him and thinking of him.

"The day is being filmed so when he is well enough to watch the video, he will know that we did this for him and his family."

Joe was in a coma but he has now woken up in the Auckland hospital.

He is able to move around slightly but his speech and memory are both poor.

Six teams will be involved in Saturday's event - two from Heathfield, Tunbridge Wells, Crowborough, Uckfield and East Grinstead - and many of Joe's former colleagues will be playing.

There will also be a BBQ, pizza oven, bouncy castle and raffle. Everyone is welcome from noon.