Youtuber who suffered brain injury in car accident dies a day after having life support turned off as family pay tribute

Influencer Andrew Cross, who was known as 'Desert Drifter' on YouTube, 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 Monday, (March 3), 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 the family had made the “agonising” decision to turn off his life support machine.

Yesterday evening, (Tuesday March 4), Spooner returned to the page to give the sad update that her brother had died earlier that day. She wrote: “Hi friends, Andrew’s spirit is free, surrounded by light & love.”

She went on: “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 (his wife) by his side, his parents and close friends nearby.

“It’s a big loss for all of us, and we’re immensely grateful for your steadfast support and prayers. Throughout all of this, it’s been our heart to stay full of faith, so we wouldn’t look back and wonder “what if…”. Thank you for walking in that with us.”

She also spoke about Cross’ final moments. “Before removing Andrew from life support yesterday, they put him on a mobile ventilator and walked a loop around the whole ICU while all the available staff lined the hallway as a way to honour him.

“Then in the room, friends & family read scripture, prayed, and sang during the process of removing life support and for over an hour afterwards. It was peaceful and beautiful.”

Talking about her brother’s legacy, she concluded the statement: “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.”

When Spooner informed Cross’ fans of the choice to turn off his life support on Monday, she said he may live for “minutes or weeks” afterwards. At the time, she wrote: “The medical team has explained there’s no predictable timeline for how long someone will live once life support is removed - it could be minutes, days, or weeks. We’re praying it will be decades!”

Explaining why the family had decided to turn off Cross’ life support machine, Spooner went on: “ We know that a life dependent on machines is not what Andrew wants. It’s not God’s will for Andrew, either.”

It was just five days ago that 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 Wednesday March 5, almost $470,000 (around £366,000) has been raised.