Joe Boudreau sits back quietly as he listens to his mother reading a handwritten letter that will serve as a kind of road map to navigate the most difficult period of his life.

The letter had arrived at the hospital from Sean Corner. The name meant nothing to Joe. But the contents of the missive were painfully familiar and couldn't be ignored because Sean Corner had also suffered a freak sports accident that had turned his life upside down.

"Right now, you are at rock bottom," Lina Boudreau read from the letter as she sat at her son's bedside in the spinal injury ward at Hamilton General Hospital. Her other son, Justin, 19, leans over her shoulder as the words flow out.

"The good thing about being at rock bottom, if there is even a good part of it, is that it only gets better from here," the four-page letter continues.

Joe knew this wasn't some self -help guru spouting off on daytime television. Sean Corner was the real deal. He'd been at rock bottom and pulled himself back up.

"It was inspiring, especially the part about hitting rock bottom. It helped a lot and it came from someone I don't even know," Joe said as he assessed the impact of the letter.

He knows Corner's good wishes are heartfelt because circumstances have made them kindred spirits. They've both suffered catastrophic life-altering accidents playing the sports they loved.

Corner has been paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair since Sept. 9, 2006, when he broke his back in a post-season rugby game in Port Colborne.

A muscular construction worker and star athlete, Joe has been in the hospital since Feb. 26 when he snapped his neck in a collision with another player during an indoor soccer match at Soccer World on Frid Street. He underwent eight hours of surgery as doctors tried to restore movement to his upper body. At first, he had trouble speaking and had virtually no movement from the neck down.

Now, he can carry on a normal conversation, move his arms, shake hands and grip objects. The doctors say he'll never walk again but he's determined to prove them wrong.

He's currently on the waiting list to be transferred to the Holbrook Rehabilitation Centre on Hamilton Mountain where he'll undergo several months of therapy before returning home.

During the last three weeks in the hospital, he has had a steady stream of friends, family members and relatives visiting his room.

They've tried to buoy his spirits by sprucing up his room with posters, pictures and a large montage of candid family shots, cartoon characters and cheery notes.

Somebody also placed two black T-shirts over the rail above his bed with the his initials "JB" and the word "believe" emblazoned in gothic white script on the front. They were designed by some of his artistic friends and will be sold to raise money to cover some of his expenses.

"I have a lot of supportive people come in to give me motivation. It helps a lot," Joe said.

The Hamilton and area soccer community has also rallied behind him and raised more than $10,000 in donations.

There are also some major fundraisers planned for the coming weeks, including an event sponsored by the Conquistador Restaurant on May 2.

A single mom with two sons and a daughter, Lina Boudreau will need all the financial help she can get. She has been working a full-time job and two part-time jobs to make ends meet and had counted on Joe's income to pay the bills.

"He was the man of the house," she said glancing up toward the bed. "He's still the man of the house," she added after a pause.

In his letter to Joe, Corner described his own ordeal and the steps he took to rebuild life after the fateful rugby match 18 months ago. Like Joe, he had always been physically active and participated in a number of sports.

And like Joe, he got overwhelming support from his sporting peers. Friends bought him a specialized car and valuable rugby jerseys from a match in Wales were sold on the Internet to raise money.

Just this weekend, he moved out of his parents' home into his own townhouse where he will be living with his girlfriend. After finishing a two-year insurance course at Mohawk College, he obtained full-time work as a commercial insurance underwriter.

Asked why he'd decided to write Joe, he replied: "I'd been through the whole song and dance. I wanted to give him the headsup ... I know things aren't good right now. But they will get better eventually."

A letter to Joe

...I have sat in the same hospital as you, probably same ward, maybe even the same room. Laying there scared, worried, upset, angry, pretty much just overwhelmed. Wondering about my future, thinking my life is ruined. I kinda just lay there some days in disbelief, wondering, "Why the ... me?" I'm sure you can relate.

Right now you are at rock bottom. But the good thing about being at rock bottom, if there is even a good part of it, is that it only gets better from here. From here on out you start to progress, things slowly pick up, you fight to pick up the pieces of your life. Everyday is a battle now, you are basically learning how to live life again...

-- Sean Corner

plegall@thespec.com 905-526-3385