DARCY Ward has been blown away by the support shown by fans from across the world, according to ‘surrogate father’ Neil Middleditch.

The Poole Pirates team manager has been by the side of Ward since flying out to Poland the day after the Aussie’s horror crash which left him with severe spinal injuries.

Ward has lived with the Poole boss and his wife Suzi since joining the Pirates in 2010, so the couple have been on as much of a roller coaster ride in the last three weeks as the 23-year-old.

“I have not seen an outpouring of emotion like this for anyone; it just shows you the esteem a young man in his short career people held him in," said Middleditch.

“It has been really hard for my wife and myself, because Darcy has been with us since he came down to Poole for the last five or six years and he has become a surrogate son.

“We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with Darcy but this one is really hard to swallow and it has been really tough.”

To date more than £38,000 has been raised online for the Darcy Ward Foundation, with Swindon Town goalkeeper Ty Belford doing his own bit this weekend by organising a collection at Saturday’s home game with Burton Albion.

Belford is not the only sportsman to show his support for the stricken rider, with Polish star Robert Lewandowski, superbikes champion Casey Stoner and Plymouth Raiders Basketball team all doing their part.

A ‘Ride for Darcy’ event has been set up in Sweden this Friday and Middleditch has said that the money raised will all go to making Ward’s future brighter.

“I think the support he has got has been fantastic from every corner of the world and every sport in the world. He is just overwhelmed,” he added.

“He is being looked after by the doctors at the moment, and ultimately we can’t say what the future holds, but the money that is being collected is to give Darcy a good quality of life when he eventually gets out of hospital.

“Pray to God that we are all being pessimistic and he will be up and running around again in a year or so.

“But at the moment we can’t say how his recovery is going to be, but all the money will be used to give him the best care and aftercare.

“People should look into their hearts. He is such a young man. The young people can relate because he is their age and the older people can relate because he is like their son and that is the thing that really gets people and making them dig into their pockets, as you would for any sportsman who is in this situation.

“I want to thank everybody from Suzi, myself and Darcy for all the support he has been given and it will be used for the right causes to help Darcy get a better life.”