A Legacy of Giving: Steve Baker’s Positive Impact on Craig Hospital

On September 23, 2026, Steve Baker and his wife, Jenn, will host their 5^th annual golf tournament at the Sanctuary Golf Course in Sedalia, Colorado.

“It’s one of my favorite days of the year,” Steve explains. “Attendees get the chance to play at the famous Sanctuary, with 100 percent of the proceeds supporting Craig Hospital.”

He adds, “More than 18 years ago, the hospital helped me put my life back together, and I am forever grateful. My experience at Craig made me realize that we all have an obligation to help others during the most challenging time in their lives. And it’s this awareness that inspires me to give back to the hospital in any way that I can.”

An Awe-Inspiring Experience

In the fall of 2008, Steve was on a couple’s trip in Arizona when he dove into a pool at his rental house and hit the bottom. “Thankfully, the house was one mile from a Level One trauma center,” he recalls. “I was rushed to the hospital where I underwent an emergency spinal fusion to repair two fractured cervical vertebrae.”

Steve remembers waking up immobilized in a halo brace, with no feeling in his arms or legs. After spending several weeks in the ICU, he was airlifted back to Denver, where a bed at Craig became available for his neurorehabilitation.

“My first impression of Craig was one of awe. It was unlike any other hospital I had ever seen,” he says. “As soon as I arrived, a team of specialists descended upon me and began to work on helping me put my life back together. It was truly amazing.”

While Steve slowly regained sensation and strength, he had to wear the brace for three months and retrain his body to move again. “From morning until night, there were tons of therapies. I quickly realized that I got out of my rehab as much as I put in, so I focused on giving it my all, each and every day,” he says. “On top of all the physical work, I also participated in numerous psychology sessions, which were extremely valuable to my mental health.”

At the time of Steve’s accident, he had been training for the Denver marathon, so learning to run again became his main goal: “In my honor, my father, Stan, wore the bib number that I was supposed to wear that fall, and he ran the marathon without any training.”

He adds, “I had just started to walk again, so I was able to meet my dad at mile 13 and even took a few steps with him. It was very emotional.”

Two years later, Steve ran the same marathon on his own and finished in just over 4½ hours: “It was definitely challenging and ugly—and a hernia diagnosis the previous week did not help—but I was determined to finish. Crossing that finish line was my ultimate goal, no matter what it took. I needed to prove to myself that I could do it.”

 From Patient to Philanthropist

After leaving Craig, Steve returned to work and resumed his life in Denver. But his strong desire to give back never waned. He reconnected with Serena Bruzgo, Craig Foundation President, and a high school friend, and became involved in the Foundation.

In addition to joining the Foundation Board, Steve included Craig in his estate plan and made the hospital the main recipient of both a company and personal donor-advised fund. His mother, Kathy, is also a regular volunteer at the hospital. “She thinks of Craig as the place that saved her son, so she’s a huge fan of the hospital,” Steve says.

He adds, “Sadly, there is a massive gap in our healthcare system in which spinal cord and brain injury patients are not taken care of like they should be. There are so many necessities in the hospital and at home that are not covered by insurance. I witnessed this firsthand while I was at Craig and saw how the Foundation works tirelessly to support patients in need. I am motivated to help these individuals because who are we if we don’t help people at their lowest moments?”

To learn more or donate to help Craig grads like Steve, please visit craighospital.org/foundation/donate.

For more information about gift planning at Craig, please visit https://craighospital.org/foundation/gift-planning.