Man Paralyzed After Chasing Monkey That Stole His Hat Has 'Long Recovery' Ahead, Daughter Says

The daughter of a Florida man who became paralyzed after falling from a roof while chasing a monkey that had stolen his favorite Pittsburgh Steelers hat in Bali says the family is “hopeful” that he’ll regain the use of his body.

Jeff “Swede” Swedenhjelm is fighting for his life in a Malaysian hospital after a 33-foot fall from a pavilion in Bali left him paralyzed from the chest down. Now, his daughter, Lyric, says that although things are looking up for the man, he has a long road to recovery ahead.

“He’s been very strong and very optimistic so we’re feeling really good that he’ll be able to walk again if he just gets the rehab that he needs,” Lyric, 21, tells PEOPLE of her father. “We all know how hard it is for him but he doesn’t really say how hard it is. He really just says that he’s gonna be back on his feet soon.”

She adds: “He really understands that the way that he got into this mess is honestly pretty silly, but the seriousness kind of takes away from that.”

Wells continued: “[He] got up to the second floor, got up to the third floor and he was trying to get the monkey to just drop it and run away. That’s the last memory he had.”

Villagers took Swedenhjelm, who has lived in Bali for at least a year, to a local hospital where he was in a medically-induced coma for six hours. He has since undergone several surgeries, some of which, doctors said, could reverse the paralysis.

“He should be able to sit up and move his hands in the next couple days, but we aren’t completely positive,” Lyric tells PEOPLE. “[Doctors are] hoping that with relieving the pressure from his spinal cords, the paralysis will go away — but only time will tell.”

Lyric says her father’s recent improvements are only the beginning of Swedenhjelm’s recovery.

“Only extensive rehab is gonna get him walking again so that’s our goal,” she says. “To really just try to raise enough money to get him the rehab that he needs so he can get back on his feet.”

The family set up a GoFundMe page to cover Swedenhjelm’s medical and transportation expenses. Along with raising more than $75,000 for Swedenhjelm’s recovery, the family has organized several pub crawls in his honor and have posted several updates on his health to social media.