BILLINGS — Billings Skyview's Jaxsyn Baker is having a remarkable spring, especially considering what he went through in September after the season’s opening football game.
“I was just literally jumping," Baker told MTN Sports of how he got injured against Missoula Sentinel. "I think my teammate, Trae Headlee, kneed me or something into my calf, so it kind of exploded."
Baker suffered a torn left calf, but he also got the blunt force of a teammate’s helmet in the back of the leg, giving doctor’s concern that compartment syndrome could develop.
This brought to light memories of Huntley Project’s Koni Dole, who suffered a compound fracture in 2012. Pressure built within his muscles leading to amputation below the knee.
Symptoms of compartment syndrome arose just less than 48 hours later, and Baker was under the knife that night.
“One night I just went down to my room and I couldn't feel my leg at all, so I was like, 'Yeah, I should probably tell my parents about this,'" Baker said.
“He was just like, 'My foot is cold and I can't feel it,'" said his mother, Hannah Baker. "We take him to Billings Clinic and they pretty much ... it seems like from the minute we walked in to the him having surgery was super-hyper speed.
“They did a really good job of being super proactive. That was one of the things they said in these instances they like to be proactive rather than reactive."
With hopes of a smooth recovery process and graduation through rehab, Jaxsyn was slated to be out about 8-10 weeks. But he finished his physical therapy in six weeks, getting back on the mat to wrestle late in the year.
“His work ethic for sports I would say, mostly — he could do a little more around everything else — sports, he just puts his full heart into it. He loves everything about it and wants to be out there no matter what, and you could definitely tell," father Brice Baker said.
That journey makes his spring high jump numbers that are eye-popping. He’s qualified for the Class AA state meet with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches, jumping off the very leg that underwent two surgeries.
“I just don't think about it. It doesn't really hurt unless it's super cold. Then it hurts and I can think about it. But if it's not cold and I'm feeling good, feeling warm, I just don't think about," Jaxsyn said.
Baker's confidence is through the roof, and he feels like he’s a better version less than a year removed from near catastrophe.
