It’s just before 6 a.m. on what will be a brisk, bright December morning and Matthew Pearle – 54 years old, a husband and father of five – tugs strongly on his hunting stand before climbing inside.

Suddenly, after thinking the stand was secure, Pearle plummets 25 feet to the ground in the woods off Great Neck Road.

“It knocked the wind out of me,” he says during a break from rehabilitation therapy three weeks after the fall. “I never lost consciousness, it did take me 25 minutes to regain my breath.”

Later, Pearle learned that the fall, which broke three vertebrae and twisted his spine, wasn’t an accident – it was sabotage.

“Someone definitely cut the cables on the tree stand,” says Pearle, noting it was used a few times before he fell on Dec. 23. “You could see a straight cut on both cables. Whoever did it left a few strands intact so the stand appeared OK.”

The damaged cables left Pearle on the ground, gasping for air and unable to move, fearing that a broken rib might puncture a lung. Carefully, Pearle wiggled his toes and fingers, checking for paralysis. He could move, thank God.

Using his cell phone the longtime hunter spoke to his son and calmly asked for help. He then called his wife and using the same conversational tone said he was in trouble.

“I didn’t want to panic them,” said Pearle.

His son led Wareham Police, firefighters and paramedics to where Pearle was hunting legally. First responders carried him out on a stretcher through the dense underbrush. He was taken to Tobey Hospital and flown to the Trauma Center at Rhode Island Hospital.

A battery of tests revealed the extent of Pearle’s injuries, which required major surgery that placed 11-inch rods inside his back and left a 24-inch scar on his body.

He wasn’t paralyzed, thankfully, but Pearle will need six to eight months of therapy at home after he’s released from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital on Sunday.

Even after that he may not be back at 100 percent. As an active man with many interests that’s a disheartening possibility.

“I fish, I hunt, I row, ride dirt bikes, coach basketball, soccer and baseball,” he says. “I work construction, doing everything from roofing to finish cabinetry work…In my mind, being paralyzed might have been worse then dying because of how active I am.”

That said, Pearle is focused on the future.

“I’m strong willed and determined to do everything I can to get my ass out of this wheelchair,” said Pearle. “It’s just going to take some time.”

A Wareham resident since he was 10 years old, Pearle has many friends in town. He didn’t realize how many until his nephew Mark Derby set up a GoFundMe page. The website allows people to raise money for a multitude of reasons.

So far, 95 people have donated $9,640 to help the family while Pearle, a self-employed carpenter, is out of work and recovering.

In addition to former classmates, old friends and acquaintances, total strangers have donated. The generous outpouring left Pearle stunned.

“You know you have friends, but you don’t know how much people care about you until a funeral or something like this happens,” he said. “I am so grateful and appreciative to know how many people care. It helps you heal, it helps put your mind at ease.”

To make a donation to the Pearle family, visit www.gofundme.com and type “Matthew Pearle” in the search bar.

Anyone with information about who may have cut the cables on Pearle’s tree stand is encouraged to call Wareham Police at 508-295-1212 or use the department’s anonymous tip line by calling 508-291-2300.