Ryerson students are fundraising to help pay for the mounting medical bills of one of the school’s dance students who was paralyzed in a tragic accident in Cuba.

Napu Boychuk, a 29-year-old student at the Toronto university, was on vacation with his family in the Caribbean island last month when the accident occurred. Boychuk was swimming at a beach in Varadero when he was pulled underwater by a strong undertow current and thrown into a rock. The accident shattered his neck and left him paralyzed.

Speaking to CTV News on Monday, Sean Connor, one of Boychuk’s friends, said the young dancer has been on assisted breathing in a Cuban hospital and in unable to move any of his arms and legs.

“He’s making a lot of progress. He’s able to breathe on his own for extended periods of time now,” Connor said.

“From what I understand, he has feeling in both of his arms and legs, which is very encouraging.”

Boychuk, who was raised in Iqaluit, has been described by staff at Ryerson as a “very talented and passionate dancer.”

Members of the theatre and dance program at the university have been planning weekend benefits to help raise money for the dancer’s recovery now that his insurance coverage has been cut off.

Boychuck’s father, Dan Boychuck, told CTV the company that provided travel insurance for the family wanted to fly his son out of Cuba the day after a major operation. He said the family opted not to do this because they were worried he wasn’t ready to fly.

“… we were told by the Canadian Embassy that the last young man who was flown out with a spinal cord injury died in flight,” Dan Boychuk said.

The insurance provider later told them that their hospital bills would not be covered after Jan. 7, Boychuk’s father said.

“They’re claiming that it’s not an emergency,” he added. “They want to fly people out right away back to the host country regardless of the patient’s interests.”

He said he will continue to push to get his son’s medical bills covered, adding that it is possible that the travel insurance included in Ryerson’s tuition could cover some of the bills.

-With reports from CTV News