Ledyard — It has been a roller coaster of a couple weeks for those who know Wayne Dillashaw, the 54-year-old Gales Ferry man who was aboard the boom lift that tipped over and landed on an Avery Hill Road home last month.

According to Ronald Dillashaw, his 56-year-old brother, Wayne Dillashaw broke all of the ribs on his right side when the lift toppled onto 126 Avery Hill Road on the afternoon of Jan. 27. He sustained small fractures in the areas of his lower back, pelvis and neck, and also had shearing and swelling of the brain, along with a small brain bleed.

Ronald Dillashaw said his brother also suffered a stroke at some point during or immediately after the fall.

Wayne Dillashaw, known by many for his affinity for helping others, remained unresponsive at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

It’s not clear what happened first, Ronald Dillashaw said: Wayne Dillashaw either hit the left side of his head on the roof, then rolled off and landed on the deck with the right side of his body, or hit the roof with the right side of his body, then rolled off and hit the deck with the left side of his head.

Ronald Dillashaw wasn’t sure whether his brother had any safety gear on at the time or why the lift lost its bearings. He speculates, however, that warming weather that day caused the previously frozen ground beneath the lift to shift.

Wayne Dillashaw, who owns Gales Ferry-based Precision Landscaping, has been in the business for more than 25 years.

Ronald Dillashaw said that although a Life Star helicopter initially set out from Ledyard for Hartford Hospital that afternoon, it changed course and instead went to Rhode Island Hospital.

Wayne Dillashaw’s progress has been back and forth ever since he was admitted, his brother said. On the scale for brain function, which goes up to 15, personnel first placed him at 6. In the coming days, that rating bounced up to 8 before dropping back to 6, then 4. Doctors most recently placed him at 7 on the scale.

“One of the doctors there had said, ‘At the very best we can hope he’ll open his eyes, but he probably won’t recognize you or anything of that nature,’” Ronald Dillashaw said. “It was really shocking to hear that.”

But little by little, things started to change. Slight movements in Wayne Dillashaw's left extremities became a little more pronounced. His eyelids began to flicker on remote occasions. Visitors caught glimpses of movement in his right foot, the side doctors said might be paralyzed.

“The problem with traumatic brain injuries is the fact that there’s no rhyme or reason for why things happen and his progress could stop at any time,” Ronald Dillashaw said. “But we’re holding out hope.”

He said he’s also found hope in the sheer number of people who’ve offered to help his brother, his brother’s longtime partner, Amanda Jenniges, their 5-year-old son, Trevor, and Jenniges' two daughters.

“There is not one person that hasn’t said he has helped (them) out in some way,” he said.

One man told Ronald Dillashaw of a time a motorcycle crash forced him into the hospital for a lengthy period. Wayne Dillashaw went over to the man's home the day before the man’s release and made sure the lawn was nicely manicured.

Another woman spoke of Wayne Dillashaw’s tendency to leave sizeable tips for single mothers he knew might be struggling to make ends meet.

“He always wants to help,” Ronald Dillashaw said. “If you need something, you call Wayne. He’s always there.”

Ronald Dillashaw said his brother doesn’t have a lot of spare time because he works so much, but whatever time he finds he spends with his family — especially Trevor, the “light of his life.”

Ronald Dillashaw, also a Ledyard resident, said he, his brother and their older sister had separate friend groups as they grew up in Ledyard.

Still, he remembers making Wayne Dillashaw ask their mom for ice cream and other unlikely treats — “they always do more for the younger one,” he laughed.

Now he and his sister are trying to keep things running as normally as possible for Wayne Dillashaw’s family.

Not expecting anything to happen to him, Wayne Dillashaw hadn’t set up a way for someone to take over the business in his absence. Unable to get power of attorney, Ronald Dillashaw said he’s trying to get conservatorship. But he needs a doctor licensed in Connecticut to travel to Rhode Island and verify Wayne Dillashaw’s situation in order to get it.

In the meantime, checks rolling in in Wayne Dillashaw’s name for past jobs can’t be cashed, leaving his family, for whom he was the sole provider, in dire straits.

Wayne’s niece, Jackie Grisham, has set up a GoFundMe page at http://bit.ly/2kYS1Wp that will benefit the family. Others have dropped off meals, groceries or gift cards to help out. Dozens more have been praying or keeping Wayne Dillashaw in their thoughts.

“It’s overwhelming,” Ronald Dillashaw said. “The outpouring — that’s where you see how much Wayne has touched the lives of others.”

l.boyle@theday.com