IN
THE
WIND
P36
PROGRESS CONTINUES
FOR BRAD BAKER
F
actory Indian racer Brad
Baker is continuing to recover
from his crash at the Summer X
Games Minneapolis on July 22.
Baker suffered a broken T6, T7
and T8 vertebra and damage to
his spinal cord in the accident,
resulting in paralysis from the
chest down. Following surgery to
his back, fusing his T3 through
T10, Baker has been recover-
ing the best he can and posting
updates about his journey on his
Instagram account.
Baker has been transferred to
the Shirley Ryan Ability Center
in Chicago, Illinois where he is
progressing in his recovery. "It's
the number one rehab facility
for spinal cord injuries in the
United States, so there's not a
better place I could be," Baker
said. Although he is still dealing
with some broken ribs, Brad is
undergoing physical therapy and
learning to be mobile and inde-
pendent. While he is surrounded
by support from friends, family
and fans, it's still a tough road for
Baker, who shed some light on
the mental hardship of what he's
dealing with in a post on Sunday,
August 5.
"My first day waking up know-
ing I'm not going to be racing. It's
a hard emotion to swallow. Best
of luck to all the races competing
at the American Flat Track Stur-
gis Buffalo Chip TT today."
Baker continues to express
his gratitude to each and every
message of support and all the
donations that are helping get
him the best care possible.
"I have to give a huge thanks
to Road 2 Recovery and Rookie
Class of '79 for helping out in
many ways," Baker wrote in a
post, "including helping raise
money to help with mine and
my family's expenses during this
time. If you would like to help out
with my future expenses, please
go to either one of their ac-
counts to donate. Anything and
everything helps and I thank you
all from the bottom of my heart
that have already donated!"
For more on Brad Baker's
recovery efforts or to make a
donation, visit his Class of '79
page, or his Road 2 Recovery
page. CN
Injured flat tracker
Brad Baker is
continuing his
recovery at the Shirley
Ryan Ability Center in
Chicago, Illinois.