The global strongman community has lifted up one of its biggest stars in recent days after England’s strongest man, Kane “The Hurrikane” Francis suffered a brutal injury while training for the log press event.

Francis, 32, was attempting to press a weight equivalent to 380 pounds (172kg) above his head when a popping sound in his leg spelled disaster for the man-mountain from Dorset, England. A scan later revealed that he’d suffered multiple ruptures and tears in his adductor tendons. As it became apparent that Francis would need to finance a speedy surgery, fellow strongman Evans “The Ghanaian Gladiator” rushed to his aid by setting up a GoFundMe page.

“Kane unfortunately had a full rupture of his adductor tendon in his groin which is a very rare but expensive surgery,” explained Nana. “Since the NHS in the UK can be a very slow process, his only option is to go through private health care which is not cheap.” Nana further explained that Francis has a window of around 3 weeks to get the surgery, or his tendons could shrink making reattachment less likely.

Kane “The Hurrikane” Francis Ruptures Adductor in Log Press Training

In a matter of days, Francis’ fans and peers had reached into their pockets and generated more than €11,500 ($11,762) for the worthy cause. “Quick recovery, big guy,” wrote Eddie Hall in a message of support via Instagram. “Stay positive mate!” wrote Terry Hollands. “You still have a long career ahead so try to keep looking at the bigger picture rather than the next couple of months.” To date, there have been more than 180 separate donations to the GoFundMe page, including a top donation of one thousand euros from strongman promotion Giants Live.

Update: Francis underwent surgery on Monday, January 13. “Thank you to everyone who has donated to this and pushed and shared to help,” he said via his Instagram account. “From the bottom of my heart it’s been so amazing to see the support people have shown me. I feel very lucky to have so many people in my corner and I can’t wait to get back to competing and hopefully do everyone proud.”

For those who would like to support his recovery, Francis’ GoFundMe page is still active at GoFundMe.