Baker family miracle turns miracle
Published: June 6, 2005
A Maryville family suffered a grave automobile accident on May 14, but what could have been a serious tragedy was transformed into a miracle instead.
The Baker family was driving to Virginia for their father’s sermon on Sunday when they had an accident while traveling north on Interstate 81 near Bristol.
Maryville High School football player Adrian “Tank” Baker was driving his older brother, Tennessee Tech senior linebacker Colton Baker, as they followed behind their father’s and stepmother’s van.
“I didn’t really fall asleep, I just zoned out while I was watching the back of my parents’ van,” said Adrian Baker.
The rumble strip snapped Adrian’s focus, but as he swerved to correct his path the car “fishtailed” and he lost control. The car then careened into the median, which was elevated higher than the pavement. The embankment served as a ramp, sending the car into the air, soaring head on into a semi truck traveling south on I-81. Their parents watched in horror through the rearview mirror.
Colton had been asleep in the back seat of the car and awoke in time to see the car hop the embankment. The force knocked him unconscious while Adrian was awake for the entire crash. The boys barely saw the truck before they flew into it; all they remember seeing was the shine from its reflection in the sun.
The car was traveling at 65 mph when it soared through the air, crashing into the truck that was traveling 70 mph.
Their father was the first person to reach the scene.
“I was just scared to death, overcome with fear, all I could do was pray,” said Don Baker.
When he arrived the truck was against the guardrail and the boys’ Dodge Intrepid was about 50 yards away in the fast lane. The whole front of the car was destroyed with the boys trapped inside. Don ran to check Colton who was unconscious, then tried to talk to Adrian.
A woman who said she was an off- duty nurse pulled over and offered assistance. She grabbed an old T-shirt to cover Adrian’s left hand, which was badly mangled. The middle finger was missing and the rest were barely hanging on. When the rescue crew arrived, one of the first people on the scene was a Virginia state trooper named Owens.
“The trooper told us that in his 22 years of being on the force, he had seen 12 accidents in which a car hit a semi head on, and this was the first time he had seen anyone survive,” said Joy Baker, the boys’ stepmother.
It took 40 minutes to cut both boys out of the jumbled car. Colton regained consciousness when the rescue crew took him to the hospital. The first words that he uttered were “What happened” and “How is my brother?”
When the hand specialist looked at Adrian’s hand for the first time, he told the Bakers that all he could do was clean the hand and try to stave off infection. The ligaments were lost and the hand was beyond saving.
That night Adrian went into surgery. When he awoke his ligaments and fingers were all reattached. The surgeons had found all of his ligaments and repaired his hand completely, all except the top of the bone on his middle knuckle.
The boys were released within six days after tremendous support and love from their family and friends. In about five weeks both boys should be healing up and going through therapy. Both are expected to fully recover, though Adrian could possibly lose some mobility in his fingers.
Adrian is expected to be able to play football again this upcoming season. Joy Baker says that she “truly witnessed the power of God that day.”
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