In this paper, we propose a novel protocol called a Multi-hop Diversity Transmission protocol in which the retransmission is realized by a relay that is Nearest to a current Source (MDTNS). We derive the mathematical expressions of the packet error rate (PER) and the average number of transmissions over Nakagami-m fading channels, and verify them by Monte Carlo simulations. The simulation results show that the MDTNS protocol improves the performance of the network in terms of PER when compared to the Multi-hop Diversity Transmission protocol in which the retransmission is done by a relay that is Nearest to Destination (MDTND) and to the conventional multi-hop transmission (CMT) protocol.