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When he broke his neck on Labor Day, Joe Nethercott was helping a friend.

Now, his friends are mobilizing to help him.

A benefit auction for Nethercott is set for 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Teton Saddleback Vistas Arena, on the east side of Highway 33, halfway between Victor and Driggs, Idaho. At 6 p.m., a pit-roasted pork dinner will be served. A $10 donation is suggested per plate for dinner. A dessert auction and silent and live auctions are planned, and music will follow. Hundreds of items have been donated, said his sister Linda Naef.

Auction items include a custom-made rifle, golf trips, Grand Targhee Resort ski passes, beef, weekend getaways, handmade quilts, hay, tack, dinner certificates and dry cleaning.

Nethercott’s accident happened Sept. 7 while he was riding in the Big Hole Mountains to help teach a 14-year-old how to horse pack. They worked on knots and loading. On the way out of the mountains, the mule Nethercott was riding stepped in an underground bee nest.

A lifelong cowboy and good horseman, Nethercott, 49, stayed with the animal as it bucked downhill 300 feet, Naef said. The mule finally bucked him off, and Nethercott rolled another 200 feet down a steep hillside.

Although there rarely seemed to be much traffic on that trail, almost 20 other trail users — hikers and mountain bikers — came upon the scene and helped get Nethercott to safety, stabilizing him and lifting him up the hillside to where a helicopter could take him to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Eleven surgeries later, Nethercott is being cared for at the Craig Rehabilitation Center in Englewood, Colo. He is still paralyzed, Naef said, but once the swelling subsides, perhaps he will regain motion.

The son of Afton and the late George Nethercott, of Jackson Hole, Joe Nethercott is a grandson of Reigo and Lucy Nethercott. He drove a school bus for seven years but has mostly worked as a cowboy. Naef said her brother has four loves in his life: wife Donna Barron Nethercott, family, horses and dancing. He and his wife drove to Jackson nearly every week to hit the floor at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

Also, “he loves a challenge,” Naef said. “And he’s definitely got one coming” to recover from his injury.

Naef anticipates the money raised will help the Nethercott family with medical bills, a wheelchair, lift and special vehicle Nethercott will need when he returns home.

To donate items to the fundraiser, call 208-201-3468 or 208-787-0787. For directions, call Naef at 208-787-7648.