BALDWIN, Fla. – Just days before Christmas, a local mother and her young son remain in the hospital after being involved in a crash in Baldwin on Tuesday morning.
The crash happened on U.S. 90 and Yellow Water Road.
Five people were taken to the hospital, and three of them were children. A mother, Chelsea, and her three-year-old son Carson, remain at the hospital.
Doctors are concerned Carson could be paralyzed from the waist down.
“He has a spine fracture and spinal cord injuries,” said Jason Baty, Carson’s grandfather and Chelsea’s dad.
Baty said his daughter, her three children and a man were in the car when they hit a dump truck.
The driver and Chelsea’s two other children have been released and are doing fine.
“So my daughter Chelsea, she has a skull fracture, she had a broken pelvis, a broken foot. She is good. She’s doing a lot better,” Baty said.
Baty said Carson isn’t responding to touch on his lower body, which has been tough for the family.
He said he wishes he could trade places with his grandson.
“Just because I know the challenges he’s going to face. If it is apparent, if he is paralyzed, permanently, you know, I know that, he’s not gonna get to do a lot of the things most kids get to do. So as a grandfather, it hurts,” Baty said.
Baty described Carson as hard-headed, strong and energetic.
He said Christmas will look different this year, but the family will have to adjust.
“I mean, it’s a thin line between stitches and a headstone. It’s a thin line and life is so fragile. It takes something like this to remind you,” Baty said.
Baty said he’s thankful they all still get to be around each other since the outcome of this crash could’ve been worse.
A family friend created a GoFundMe campaign to help with Chelsea and Carson’s medical bills.