Injured surfer Darren Longbottom has set his sights on returning to his Kiama home by Christmas.The 36-year-old surf shop owner was admitted to Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital three weeks ago with a broken neck, suffered on May 20 while surfing in Indonesia.He is now waiting for a place at the Moorong Spinal Unit at Ryde so he can continue his rehabilitation.Aimee Longbottom said on Friday her husband was continuing to rebuild his strength, but was still yet to feel movement beyond his neck and arms.However, it is early days, with doctors telling him it would take at least two months before the swelling from his injury goes down."The doctor said I was in for a long haul," Mr Longbottom said last week."They give you two years (to reach the maximum recovery), but I don't look too far into the future. I take it as a day-by-day thing."I haven't stopped moving, working out all the time. I wake up in the morning and check if I have any more movement."At the moment I'm just trying to build up my strength."Mr Longbottom's recovery involves exhaustive rounds of exercise, including gym workouts, hydro and occupational therapy.Tickets to a fundraiser at Shellharbour Workers Club on Thursday sold out last week, while raffle tickets continue to be sold throughout the region, including at the couple's Zink Surf shop in Terralong St, Kiama.Mr Longbottom said he was disappointed he, his wife and 15-month-old daughter Bowie could not attend the fund-raiser, but they would be there in spirit."If it was just down the road they'd probably let me go," he said.The couple thanked the community for its tremendous support."We have had hundreds of messages from people saying they were thinking of us and praying for us," Mrs Longbottom said."You never expect to be in this situation, but we haven't expected the support we've been given either."And it's helped us. It's kept us strong."