When Katherinites Charles and Mary-Lou McGregor-Shaw embarked on an Australia Day fishing adventure with two of their three sons, they could have never imagined the tragedy that would unfold.

In monsoonal rain on a bend, the car they were travelling in collided head-on with another vehicle.

Two months later, Charles, a rescue helicopter aircrewman, is a quadriplegic, and Mary-Lou, an accountant, has a severe traumatic brain injury and is still not conscious.

Two of their sons continue to receive ongoing medical treatment, and Mary-Lou's parents had their lives uprooted to move from Katherine to Perth to be with their loved ones.

In the blink of an eye, the McGregor-Shaws' lives changed forever - but family, friends and complete strangers have since rallied around them, raising $30,000 in only a few hours after a fundraiser was set up.

Since then, nearly $250,000 have been raised in a bid to help the family with ongoing bills and to enable their three sons to attend school in Perth away from home.

"(People) who have donated have made an extraordinary effort - it's hard to describe what it means to the family," fundraiser organiser and family friend Jo Brosnan said.

"And from the bottom of their hearts, the family is grateful beyond words for the community's phenomenal support."

Ms Brosnan said Charles and Mary-Lou had "never asked for anything but have given freely and with love to their community" - and now the community was taking the opportunity to "pay it back and pay it forward".

A recent fundraising event at Rod and Rifle Tackleworld in Katherine raised more than $15,000 in just a few hours, with the entire community chipping in with help - from cooking sausages, to donating raffle items.

For Katherine man Shane Wuttke and his family it was a no-brainer to support the event.

"It's for a good cause," he said. "We have three boys, they (the McGregor-Shaws) have three boys, they need all the support they can get."

The Wuttke family's support came - in true Territory style - in form of a 16g, $1600 gold nugget which was donated as a prize to the raffle.

"It's Katherine gold; found here," Mr Wuttke said. " We try to go out every now and then to do some prospecting. And this family needs our help, so we put it (the gold) in the raffle."

Ms Brosnan said the love and support for the McGregor-Shaw family has been overwhelming.

"The effort put in by the Katherine Game Fishing Club, Rod and Rifle, and all the people that contributed to making the Super Saturday Fundraiser event so successful was incredible," she said.

"The McGregor-Shaw boys' grandparents, Maureen and Bill O'Keeffe, who moved from Katherine to Perth to be near the hospital, cried tears of gratitude when they realised how much the town had done for them.

"One of the many highlights was the beautiful painting done by (local artist) Simmone Croft, titled 'Flowers for Mary-Lou'. The purchaser has donated it to Mary-Lou to hang in her hospital room."

But the more time passes, the more help the McGregor-Shaws will need.

"The need for financial support will grow," Ms Brosnan said.

"They have a 20-acre block that needs care and attention, and a mortgage.

"We are thinking about how we can use funds to help look after their property so 'home' will be just as those boys remember it. And, in a perfect world, it will still be there for them.

"The three boys were in school and played (sport). Two of the boys still need medical services. They are in the care of their grandparents, who lived a modest life in Katherine before moving to Perth to care for the boys. So how much money do they need? We have no idea, but right now, we can't see the need for support ending anytime soon."

But for now - and thanks to the help of the Katherine community, the boys' grandparents "can approach the supermarket checkout without fear and trepidation as they grocery shop for three teenage lads", Ms Brosnan said.

"Now it's down to hope, prayers and controlling the things we can control, which is doing our bit to support them financially while the amazing medical team and the universe do their thing."