What could be better during the cold weather than Italian ice?

People in Suwanee are encouraged to trek to Rita's in Suwanee Town Center on Wednesday and down as much of the cold stuff as they can in a fund-raiser for 13-year-old Brice Croxton, who sustained a spinal cord injury while skiing in Colorado.

Now at Shepherd Spinal Center, Brice is paralyzed from the sternum down, said his father, Alex Croxton.

Rita's owner Harry Jones said his business will donate to the Croxton family 10 percent of the day's receipts or 30 percent of the money received from 4-9 p.m., whatever is larger.

Other Suwanee businesses, including the Chick-fil-A on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, also are doing fund-raisers.

Croxton said he and Brice, an eighth-grader at Lanier Middle School, were near the end of three days of skiing in Breckinridge on Jan. 4 when the accident occurred. During the last run, Brice was skiing just a few seconds ahead of his father. He disappeared over a little hill.

"When I saw him, he was lying down next to a tree, and he looked like a truck had hit him," Croxton said. "I didn't know if he was alive."

Emergency ski patrol members helped get Brice off the mountain and to a waiting ambulance. The weather was so bad, Croxton said, that it took hours to reach a hospital. After numerous surgeries, Brice was moved back to Atlanta. He woke up a week ago.

"I'd like to give a general thank you to the community for their love, support and prayers," Croxton said. "And we'd ask for their continued prayers for Brice to heal and be strong. We thank God for the progress he's made."