SPRING VALLEY, Calif. (KGTV) - From his hospital bed, a Spring Valley man is recounting the crash in his off-road vehicle that left him paralyzed.
Two Thursdays ago, 24-year-old Charles Baker purchased a modified, 1999 Jeep Cherokee off-road vehicle from a private seller. With the new vehicle, he headed out to some trails outside Ocotillo Wells the next day with a friend. He tested it out that night.
“It was pretty much prefect. It was exactly what I wanted. I loved it a lot,” said Baker.
The next day, he drove it all day. Around 5 p.m., he told his friend he was going out for one more ride. He put on his seat belt. The crash unfolded about an hour later.
“I was driving straight. I suddenly felt something shift the steering wheel to the left. My steering components must have fallen apart. I hit a sandbank, must have gone five or six seconds of air time,” said Baker.
When Baker—who was knocked unconscious—came to, he was about 10 feet from the vehicle, and knew he was in trouble.
“I tried to get up and crawl to the vehicle, because I could hear my buddy calling for me on the radio… I kind of got really scared at that point, because I couldn't feel my legs anymore, and I couldn’t move. I was entirely by myself, and I thought that might have been the end for me,” said Baker.
For more than two hours, Baker would go in and out of consciousness, before his friend, who had begun searching for him, finally found him.
“So thankful he had found me,” said an emotional Baker.
After he was flown to a Palm Desert hospital came the grim diagnosis. Along with a long list of broken bones and other injuries, a spinal cord injury had left him paralyzed from the waist down.
“Doctors said I would pretty much be off my feet for the rest of my life,” said Baker.
The life of Baker, an electrician by trade, was forever altered. His message for those thinking about modified vehicles: be methodical when it comes to safety.
“Be careful. Inspect your vehicles,” said Baker.
As for his future, Baker chooses to stay positive.
“It’s my only option... you can laugh or cry. Trying to keep spirits high… I’m alive. I’m thankful for what I have left, and how I can better myself for the future,” said Baker.
Baker will be transferred to a hospital in San Diego County in the next few days.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help modify Baker’s home to help with his condition.
