A head-on collision on the track of a high-speed off-road race in Baja California has left a well-known rider hospitalized in San Diego with serious injuries.
Josear Carrasco, 29, of San Diego, was leading a portion of the RECORD Ensenada to San Quintin 250 on Aug. 10 when he collided with a vehicle driving on the course.
“He was just about two miles before getting off the bike, he had a head-on collision with an SUV that irresponsibly got on the course,” the rider's father, Armando Carrasco said. “Not only hit him but ran over him.”
Armando Carrasco stood outside of UC San Diego Medical Center to talk with Telemundo 20 about his son's crash.
Josear Carrasco suffered burns and multiple broken bones in the collision.
His father said the damage done to his son’s bike looks as if he ran straight into a wall.
“That’s the risky parts of being a leader on a race because spectators aren’t expecting the bikes to come down that early,” he said. “He was like 10 to 20 minutes ahead of the time he was supposed to be making. He was flying. He was going probably 85 miles an hour.”
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Josear Carrasco has been racing on two wheels almost all of his life, his father said. The family is based in Baja but Josear Carrasco lives in San Diego with his wife.
He started out racing BMX bicycles and then moved on to mountain bikes and dirt bikes. Now, he runs his own company and has a large social media following.
After five or six surgeries, Josear Carrasco may have more procedures done, his father said.
Doctors are waiting to see how he recovers from his burns before deciding whether to put Josear Carrasco through another surgery.
The insurance coverage Josear Carrasco had as a participant in the race was spent within the first few days of his hospitalization, his father said.
Now, the family is trying to raise money to help him with the medical costs and the rehabilitation that’s expected once he’s released from the hospital.
"Everything is going to be day by day decisions," Armando Carrasco said. "They're amazed at how he's responding."
"Maybe a month more and then rehab - that's going to be a long race for him, that he'll win," he added.
The family has set a GoFundMe page to help with expenses.
