Bram Hoover brings to life Jerry Baker in 23 Blast, a key figure in this tear-jerking true story.
Originally released in 2013, 23 Blast is back in the public eye as the inspirational drama comes to Netflix in the U.S. for the first time.
The film is set in the real-life world of Kentucky high school football, following a young man named Travis Freeman who is suddenly stricken with a rare bacterial infection, loses his sight, and (against all odds) returns to the football field despite his disability.
Who Is Jerry Baker in 23 Blast?
Like Travis Freeman, the character whose shocking life story is told in 23 Blast, Jerry Baker is one of the real people from Freeman's life who makes it into the movie.
Baker (played by Bram Hoover) was a figure in Freeman's journey back to the field both in and out of the film version of the events.
Travis and Jerry were childhood best friends when the former began to experience the headaches and bacterial meningitis that would lead him to ultimately lose his sight.
While suffering depression as he grapples with his nearly acquired disability, it was people like Jerry Baker who helped to pull Freeman out of the darkness and help him realize he can get back on the field and prove his visual encumbrance who is boss.
With the help of Baker, Freeman was able to overcome the odds and come back to Corbin High School, eventually leading the former football star to get the pads on one last time to play despite not being able to see.
In public, Freeman has been outspoken about how much Baker meant and continues to mean to him.
Freeman posited in a Q&A with15 Minutes With that after he lost his sight he "didn't want any of my friends to come to the hospital to see [him];" however, it was a knock on the door one day by Baker that ultimately led him "understand that my friends were still going to accept [him]:"
"Growing up in Corbin was a great experience. I had a great family and church life, and God truly blessed me in that way. Jerry was a friend of mine growing up. When I lost my sight, I didn’t want any of my friends to come to the hospital to see me. One day there was a knock at the door and it was Jerry. He hung out with me all day, and helped me understand that my friends were still going to accept me, and that everything was going to be okay."
He continued, calling Baker "instrumental" in getting him "out of [his] shell," just as was depicted in the 23 Blast film.
How Did Jerry Baker from 23 Blast Die?
Jerry Baker's story sadly does not have a happy ending though like his former best friend Travis Freeman.
Baker tragically died at the age of 26 in 2007. This came as a result of complications from a devastating roofing accident several years before his death that left Baker paralyzed from the waist down along with severe brain damage.
After his accident, Baker overcame several stints in hospital, infections, amputations of his legs, and multiple surgeries, but it would all eventually prove to be too much.
According to Freeman, shortly after the events depicted in the film, Baker "got wrapped up in drugs and alcohol," something he would struggle with up until his death:
"Once we got into high school, Jerry started going in a different direction. He wasn’t a believer, and he got wrapped up in drugs and alcohol. A few years ago he was involved in a roofing accident and was paralyzed. He didn’t take care of himself and died a few years later as a result of complications from the accident. So it’s really a story of two friends and how they deal with tragedy and adversity differently. I looked at the challenge and disability that came into my life and decided to overcome it, and, unfortunately, Jerry went down the path of feeling sorry for himself."
Baker was survived by his daughter, Kailee, and mother, Vicki.
On what he thought his childhood best friend would have thought of the 23 Blast film, Freeman told the movie's promotional team that he "think[s] Jerry would be proud of [it]:"
"I think Jerry would be proud of the movie. I think Jerry was there for me. When I was down, he was the friend that reched out and said, 'You're going to be okay. You're going to be just like everybody else, and I am not giving up on you.' I think he would be honored to have the role that he has in the movie."
23 Blast is now streaming on Netflix in the U.S.
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