Team Roots for Elkridge Landing Teacher's Recovery

After a weight-lifting injury left Elkridge Landing teacher Tim Murdock paralyzed from the waist down, a team of colleagues, family and friends has come together to support the recovering educator.

Approximately 20 friends, family and staff members at  (ELMS) have put together “Team Murdock,” according to Susan Williams, secretary to the school principal and chairwoman of the group.

The goal was to raise $10,000 through a bull and oyster roast, “and we have well exceeded that,” said Williams on Thursday.

The , planned for March 3 at  in Elkridge, is sold out.

“We could have filled a lot more [spots] but we had to cut it off because the hall can’t fill that many [people],” said Williams.

Three hundred people bought tickets. “It’s mostly families from Elkridge Landing but also families that Tim knows—a lot of friends and neighbors,” Williams said.

Murdock, who lives in Columbia, was extremely well-liked, according to the ELMS administration. He was voted Teacher of the Month by his students twice this school year before becoming injured while lifting weights on Oct. 13.

The eighth-grade history teacher was in his third year at ELMS when he suffered the injury. He also coached wrestling at l and graduated from Wilde Lake High School in 2004.

After undergoing treatment for a spinal cord injury at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, Murdock went to a rehabilitation center for his condition. He’s now at a facility in Atlanta, GA, said Williams, but the school plans to welcome him back soon.

“He’s on medical leave and will be returning for the first day of the school year next year,” she said.

“His primary motivation throughout his fight has been to return to the classroom at the beginning of the next school year,” wrote Murdock’s mother on HelpHopeLive, a nonprofit fundraising service for families suffering from catastrophic injuries.

People can donate to Murdock’s recovery fund online through the nonprofit organization.

Team Murdock hopes to outfit Murdock's house so he can get around when he arrives home.

“By helping to alleviate this financial burden, we can give Tim the chance to concentrate all his energy on healing so he is prepared to return to his students at the beginning of the next school year,” wrote administrators from ELMS.

To support his recovery, Team Murdock said that the school has come together in a way it has not before.

“We’ve done some charity work…but this is the first time we’ve done anything to this extent,” said Williams. “He is just the most awesome guy you could ever meet—25 years old but he just has it all together, and the kids love him too. We love him so much.”

This article has been updated on March 2 to correct the spelling of Murdock. Patch regrets the error.