CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — It seems like everywhere you go in Canandaigua, everyone knows coach Dave Nieman.

That includes Mark Carson at Wally’s Pub and Nicole Moore, the general manager at the Greenfront Restaurant.

“I think that led to my son coaching lacrosse and I think he really inspired him to do that," Carson said.

“He comes in with the coaches during football season,” said Moore.

That’s why when Moore and other restaurant owners heard about what happened to coach Nieman, they jumped in to help.

“The restaurants pulled together in about a day, nobody hesitated," Moore said. "Everyone wanted to pull together for coach.”

As a football and lacrosse coach, he is used to spending his days on a field. But since the beginning of March, coach Nieman spends his days in a wheelchair at Unity Hospital, talking with doctors in between physical therapy sessions.

“I was doing books for the girls basketball team Saturday," said Nieman. "Got home and my legs felt heavy. Sunday morning I got up to go to the bathroom and couldn’t walk, I just fell on my face.”

Nieman was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome or GBS. It’s a neurological condition with a long recovery period and often has no warning signs.

“You go from being a normal person to basically an invalid within 24 hrs," Nieman said. "I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t feel my legs, I had limited movement in my upper body. It took everything away I was used to.”

One thing Coach Nieman has thought about is what life looks like once he’s able to return home.

“I’m going to do a lot of the little things when I get out of here.” he said.

The GBS diagnosis has been hard for Nieman, but he says it’s even harder on his two kids and wife.

“My wife is home alone, she’s under a lot of pressure and stress," he said "Thank God for the community we live in.”

The community raised tens of thousands of dollars through a GoFundMe campaign within hours and restaurants donating a portion of their sales to the Nieman family.

“It’s very humbling," Nieman said. "It’s just what I do, I'm a coach and teacher. You don’t think about how many lives you’ve affected.”

Nieman did eventually make it home from the hospital. 

Canandaigua restaurants raised almost $17,000 for the Nieman family.