Wife of Youtuber who died after he suffered brain injury in car accident recalls their last weekend full of 'joy'

Evelyn Cross has also thanked the fans of her late husband, influencer Andrew Cross, who was known as 'Desert Drifter' on YouTube, for their support and love since he died on March 4, a day after his family had made the “agonising” decision to turn off his life support machine.

34-year-old Cross was seriously injured in a car accident on the night of Friday January 31. The 34-year-old social media star, who was a desert adventurer and former Grand Canyon tour guide, sustained a severe traumatic brain injury in the accident. He was rushed to hospital and immediately given brain surgery to bring a bleed on his brain under control. He had been in intensive care ever since.

On the day of his death, his elder sister Jenna Spooner took to a Caring Bridge page which had been set up to update Cross’ friends and fans on his condition, to say that he had sadly died. She wrote: “Hi friends, Andrew’s spirit is free, surrounded by light & love. He went to be with the Lord today, March 4 at 10:50 AM MST (5.50pm UK time). It was peaceful and full of love in the room with Evelyn by his side, his parents and close friends nearby.”

Now, Evelyn has returned to the page to share her memory of the last weekend she shared with Cross, just a few days before the car accident. She shared that they went on a “little mountain retreat” on the weekend of January 25/26. “Andrew was stoked on the snow and wanted us to get into the mountains for the weekend to unplug from our phones, connect with each other, give thanks for the past year and dream about the year ahead,” she said.

“It was a weekend I will always treasure. One of the things that came from that weekend was this sense that we were supposed to lean into the word joy in the year ahead. I’ve thought about that often since January 31. I’ve dwelled on the fact that Andrew is getting to experience the fullness of joy for all eternity right now.”

She went on to explain that she has been feeling both grief and joy since her husband’s untimely death. “It brings a smile to my face just writing and imagining that. And while I’m mysteriously still on this side of heaven without my love, I have been genuinely astounded that I’ve somehow been able to experience and recognize a great deal of joy, beauty and goodness myself in the last month or so.

She concluded: “What’s even more astounding is that it’s truly the purest joy I’ve ever felt. The waves of grief come frequently, often unannounced, and they hit hard. Yet, by the grace of God, I’ve learned that I can trust that my joy will be renewed yet again.”

Evelyn, who had been married to Cross since July 2021, added that “one of the things that I’m learning about grief is that it’s love’s twin sister.” She also thanked his fans for sharing their love for him, which she said had bought her comfort since his untimely death. She said: “ Thank you. Those two words don’t seem to do justice the overwhelming gratitude I feel for the many people that have prayed, sent cards/flowers/gifts, emailed, donated, created videos in Andrew’s honour, posted to the caring bridge/obituary page/youtube comments, stepped in to take things off my plate, etc. I have months worth of little treasures ahead of me to sort through. Thank you.”

Cross was hit from behind at high speed while sitting at a stop light, sister Spooner said on Facebook. Talking about her brother’s legacy previously, she wrote online: “Andrew really lived life to the fullest, and his story & impact isn’t over yet. It’s been wonderful to get to know him in new ways as we’ve seen photos and stories shared by so many. We look forward to more of that as we honour a life well lived.”

A few days prior to Cross’ death, Spooner had informed fans that it was approaching the maximum amount of time that her brother was allowed length of care in the Intensive Care Unit. At that time, on Friday February 28, she told fans that “important” decisions would need to be made about Cross’ future care and that he would either be moved to comfort care, with no more life support, or taken to a long term acute care hospital.

She added, however, that “the statistics about Andrew’s likelihood to have a moderate recovery, or even regain consciousness, are discouraging. And it seems like the more info we get, the bleaker the picture.”

Just less than a week after his accident, doctors discovered the influencer had suffered a series of strokes. Then, at the beginning of February, Cross had an MRI scan to discover the extent of his injuries and his family were told the star had ‘severe injuries’ and his ‘prognosis [was] not good’. But, by the end of the week his wife Evelyn shared that her husband has taken a ‘positive step in the right direction’ with his recovery. Things took a turn, however, at the beginning of last week when Spooner revealed that the star was being treated for pneumonia.

Cross, who had set up his Youtube channel in 2023 and has 400,000 followers, was on his way back from filming a video at Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, when he was involved in the car accident. The precise circumstances of the incident are still not clear.

A GoFundMe page had been set up by family friend Hannah Schweitzer to help Cross’ family pay for his medical expenses. At the time of writing, on the morning of Thursday March 20, almost $520,000 (around £400,000) has been raised.