Canberra Gunner John Mapiou recovering after horrific car accident

"He is a ball of energy," Gunners coach Peter Herak said.

But a single vehicle car accident has left Mapiou with a fractured skull, broken jaw, spinal fractures, multiple broken ribs and a perforated bowel.

Now the basketball community is rallying around the 22-year-old, with a fundraiser targeting $20,000 set up to assist Mapiou via the Australian Sports Foundation.

Mapiou is in intensive care and will be unable to work for months, instead facing a long road to recovery requiring extensive rehabilitation to recover from the accident which left him with life-altering injuries.

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The fundraising figure soared beyond $10,000 on Tuesday, with support flowing in for the Canberra NBL1 player who doubles as a junior coach with Scorers Academy and works part-time at The Dome in Fadden.

"He's a really highly valued member of our group. He is a fantastic young man," Herak said.

"He brings a competitive spirit to everything that he does out on the floor, and that rubs off on the rest of the group.

"He's a really respectful young man as well, a really polite and inquisitive young man.

"When he crosses the line, he is definitely up to the challenge and the battle."

Mapiou is midway through his second year at the Gunners, who claimed last year's NBL1 East title, after returning to Canberra following a stint playing collegiate level basketball at the New Mexico Military Institute.

Last week he recorded 10 points and five rebounds after starting in a win over the Inner West Bulls.

While Canberra's season continued with more two games days following the accident, for some time, Mapiou's life on the court is on hold.

"He was just starting to improve this year immensely, he was getting more court time based on the fact he had improved his game and he was starting to improve his skill set, which was good to see," Herak said.

"He worked on some things as a point guard to better facilitate for the team, but also being able to attack and do things himself. He had just grown in confidence, I would say.

"This is his second year [in the Gunners program], he was with us last year after he returned from college.

"He's a Canberra kid, he came up through the Canberra system playing for the Ginninderra Rats.

"He came through the Canberra system after moving to Australia and he has been through our programs for a long time.

"Everyone is keen to help out and has reached out to not only myself but to his Australian family, and his Australian employers and friends.

"Hopefully we're able to raise some funds for his rehabilitation."

The fundraiser has been set up as police seek witnesses or anyone with dash-cam footage of the moments leading up to a single vehicle collision on Barry Drive late on May 26.

Reports filtered through at about 11.20pm that night after witnesses saw a white Toyota Corolla on its roof on the western side of the northbound lanes of Barry Drive in O'Connor.

ACT Policing, ACT Ambulance and ACT Fire and Rescue attended the scene and the sole occupant of the vehicle was transported to hospital in a critical, but stable condition.

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