FLEMING ISLAND – Steel Mill Fleming Island and the Human Collective Foundation worked together Saturday to help one of its members who recently survived a major motorcycle crash to get through the holidays with his new wife and children.

Steel Mill held the charity work out for Chris Davie on Saturday, Dec. 19. Many members of gym family were there to participate and raise money for his medical bills. The silent auction was also held Saturday. The two activities raised $2,200. The donation buttons, located on the Human Collective Foundation website, and on the Steel Mill workout page, is active and has raised an additional $2,000.

Davie, a recently turned 28-year-old professional tree climber, motorcycle and CrossFit enthusiast, was less than a week away from getting married when he was involved in a terrible accident. In the accident, his motorcycle was T-boned by a Chevrolet Tahoe. The impact threw him 50 feet and caused several injuries. While he didn’t suffer any severe head wounds, he fractured his femur, pelvis, and occipital bones in his face. He also sustained enough damage that he had his right leg amputated just above the knee. He was airlifted from the scene of the accident near Pierson to a hospital in Daytona Beach, where he successfully underwent surgery.

“I got a free helicopter ride and I don’t even remember it,” Davie said.

Bill Davis, owner of Steel Mill, and his wife are good friends of Chris and Jalese Davie. When Jalese told Davis about the accident and its seriousness, Davis looked to what he could do to help. He contacted the Human Collective Foundation to assist in fundraising since Davie was the primary earner for his family. Davis and The Human Collective Co-Founder Noelle Marx have been friends for many years and have worked in charities together during.

“When you open a Go-Fund-Me account, Go-Fund-Me takes 2.9% out,” said a representative of the Human Collective. “We just wanted to be good people that wanted to do good things for people in the community regardless of the need. So we were able to open an account on our website and be able to fundraise for him [Davie], where 100% of the proceeds came over. We also went over and donated Christmas donations to his fiancée. We went over to their house and decorated for Christmas so they would have something nice to come home to – her and her kids.”

Davie is in rehabilitation in Jacksonville. In spite of his condition, he maintains an outgoing attitude.

“I watched the workout on Facebook live and it was emotional as heck,” he said. “I was crying my eyes out. This gives me a lot of hope, honestly.”

The Middleburg couple were scheduled to be married on Dec. 12 followed by a honeymoon in Nashville. Although the accident occurred six days earlier, the couple didn’t let the accident stop the wedding, and they were married at the hospital.

Jalese was at the workout. Her husband is in rehabilitation and isn’t allowed to leave, she said.

“I was overwhelmed by the love,” Jalese said.

According to Davis, members of the gym are like a family and they worked to help the Davies in their hour of need.

“Typically, in CrossFit, there’s a very big history of charity and honoring people,” said Davis. “So when this happened, we knew that we would have a charity work out for Chris, which is very big in the CrossFit community. People will come in. The workout is specifically designed to honor and help him. Sometimes it’s with favorite movement that he enjoys. Everybody donates and then they workout. We’re also having a silent auction. We’ve got a large number of local businesses that have donated baskets and donated gift cards, and donated equipment that can be auctioned off. So, 100% of the charity of the Human Collective will go to Chris and Jalese [Davie]. That was very, very important to us. We live here; this is where our business is, so we try to do stuff within Clay County. A lot of the Clay County businesses have been very, very generous.”

Jalese Davie has been overwhelmed with the outpouring of calls and messages since the accident.

“She’s family to us. In the CrossFit world, the word community is thrown around a lot, Davis said. “That’s why people kind of stay with their CrossFit gyms because each gym becomes like a family. We know their spouses’ names. We know their kids’ names. We do things even outside of the gym. She’s extremely happy, overwhelmed with the outpouring from the community. She and Chris are very positive people.”

Davis says that part of Davie’s surgery was to lengthen his femur, hopefully allowing for a prosthetic in the future.

“So far, so good,” Davie said. “I’m more mobile than I was before. I’m able to get from by bed to my wheelchair a lot easier. I can’t walk because my hip is still really broken up.”

One of the first things Davie will do when he leaves rehab is stopping by Steel Mill.

“We’ll be here for him,” Davis said.