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Q: i'd like to start off with your answer "how about she has a case of being a desperate idiot" to someone's question was lol funny. i needed a good laugh and that provided it.
now for the question. my dad was a police officer, but recently he was in a car crash chasing some murderer and he became paralyzed from the waist down.
he's become terribly depressed cause (a) he's paralyzed and (b) he knows he'll never get to go back to work, which, after his family, is the most important thing.
he's stopped eating, stopped sleeping (mostly) and i feel completely helpless. he feels like he can't provide for his family anymore, and that makes him a bad husband/dad.
i'm afraid he's gonna get really sick if he continues to reject food and good sleep.
what the hell should i do???

From the sound of your dad, he seems stubborn, so you probably just can't drag him to therapy without him putting up a fight, but i do think that therapy would be the best thing for him, or maybe you and your mom can talk to him.
Make sure he knows that you're supportive of him, and that he IS a good father, ask him for help with homework and stuff to make him feel needed.
To help him get better sleep, you could also take him to the doctor and get him some medication to help him sleep. Just make sure not to leave him alone with it, because he's depressed, and leaving a depressed person alone with medication is usually not a good idea.

As for the eating problems, try to get him to eat at least once in a while, and when he does, make sure it's a really good meal with lots of protein and carbohydrates. That way he'll be receiving nutrition from that one meal at least.
You could also get him appetite enhancers from your local GMC.

That's really all i can suggest for now, maybe in a week or so you could update me on his progress and i can give you some more advice :) I hope he feels better!