Rather than using a life-altering spinal cord injury 19 years ago as an excuse, Ryan Baker has used it as a tool to help others. Sharp HealthCare is recognizing the former Point Loma resident with one of its 2010 Victories of Spirit Eagle Awards on June 4 at the Hilton Bayfront downtown. “I’m pretty flattered that I got nominated,” Baker said. “It’s an awesome honor and privilege to get this award.” In 1991, Baker was riding in a full-size van with his friends the day after his high school graduation. He was asleep between the two front seats when the driver of the van hit the car in front of them. “The driver fell asleep behind the wheel and we rear-ended somebody,” Baker said. “When we hit them I slipped forward and my head hit the engine cover in the van and compressed my spine at thoracic six.” As a result, Baker was left paralyzed below the thoracic six (T6) vertebrae. The location of the injury allowed him to still have use of his arms and hands, but he was completely without feeling just below his rib cage — a condition that placed him permanently in a wheelchair. “I still experience frustration and I still miss a lot of the things I used to do,” Baker said. “Even though I can still do a lot of these things, I’m having to figure out how to do it differently.” During his recovery process, Baker said interacting with others who had suffered spinal cord injuries was incredibly helpful. Baker now lends a hand to others through the Sharp Rehabilitation Men’s Spinal Cord Injury support group that he is a founding member of, along with serving through HeadNorth Foundation and Sharp Rehabilitation as a peer mentor for those newly-injured. “In the 19 years of my injury, I’ve never learned more than I have from other guys in chairs that are dealing with it,” Baker said. “Having that support group and being surrounded by guys that are dealing with the same thing is just a really beneficial outlet in order to exchange that information.” Physically active prior to his injury, Baker hasn’t slowed down after it. Active in the world of adaptive sports, Baker recently started a new adaptive sport — wheelchair lacrosse. He first got the idea for the sport 16 years ago while playing tennis as a part of his rehab. “I never had any exposure to lacrosse and never played growing up, but I’d always had the thought in the back of my mind, ‘If I can push with a tennis racket in my hand, why can’t I push with a lacrosse stick in my hand?’ It seemed like a really natural transition,” Baker said. After mulling on wheelchair lacrosse for years, Baker shared the concept with his friend, Bill Lundstrom, on a ski trip last year. Committed to the new sport from that moment, the two began to experiment with equipment and rules, and continued on until they started the first wheelchair lacrosse team in the nation in San Diego. “We went and got some used equipment and went out onto the tennis court and just played catch, to find out and see how viable it would be from a wheelchair,” Baker said. “We learned that it was definitely possible.” Baker said the next step will be to take wheelchair lacrosse to the masses via the sport’s website (www.wheelchair-lacrosse.com) and traveling demonstrations, and to publish an official rulebook. His hope is to have six teams around the country in two to three years — mainly so the local outfit has someone to play against. “Our hope is just to keep it growing to a national level,” Baker said. “Right now there is no one else in the country that is doing this as an adaptive, competitive sport.” Baker lived in Point Loma from 2002 to 2005 and currently lives in Mission Valley. He and his father, Bob, are both members of Southwestern Yacht Club. “We do a lot of fishing and sometimes we’ll take other guys in wheelchairs out — either just take them for a bay cruise or get them out fishing,” Baker said. For more information about the 2010 Victories of Spirit Celebration, visit www.sharp.com/rehab. Tickets are still on sale for the June 4 event.