Fundraiser underway for San Mateo cop critically injured in Central Valley crash
SAN MATEO » To his coworkers and family, Carlos Basurto is a man with an iron will and a heart of gold.
The 39-year-old San Mateo police officer is going to need both — and perhaps some financial help — if ever hopes to walk and play with his children again following a devastating car crash in the Central Valley last week.
“He said it was either me or the car in front of me,” said his brother Alfy Basurto in a phone interview from San Joaquin General Hospital.
“He did not want to injure anyone else,” added his sister Norma Avelar.
Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate Carlos from the wreckage, said his brother Jaime Basurto. Carlos has already undergone four major surgeries and will need others.
To help Carlos on his road to recovery, the San Mateo Police Officers’ Association has launched an online fundraiser to help offset medical bills and other costs. The married father of four boys — ranging in age from 8 to 22 — is the family’s main breadwinner.
Carlos grew up on the Peninsula and graduated from Burlingame High School. Just like his older sister and brothers, he pursued a career in law enforcement and joined the San Mateo Police
Department in 2005 (Avelar is a Burlingame police officer, Jaime a San Mateo police detective and Alfy a former Santa Clara County deputy sheriff).
Jennifer Maravillas was sworn in with Carlos and worked a beat with him before being promoted to sergeant. Carlos, she said, has an “infectious smile” that lights up the room. And he has a knack for cheering up his colleagues even on the toughest of days.
Carlos’ siblings agree he is the most reliable of the bunch and always willing to go the extra mile. As one example, Jaime said Carlos constructed a frame to hold a 10-by-20-foot banner for a niece’s graduation. The project was completed after he got home from work and before he headed to Mountain House, where he runs a summer camp for kids.
“He just wanted to make sure his niece’s graduation celebration was perfect,” said Jaime, fighting back tears. “That’s the type of guy he is.”
But Carlos isn’t a pushover.
Alfy said the car crash was a worst fear come true.
“That commute is really taxing,” he said. “It’s a problem of the whole Bay Area. It’s hard to live in the town you work in, especially as service professionals. They’re forced to live on the outskirts.”
In more than one way, Carlos was lucky to survive the collision. Just two months ago, he received training on how to apply a tourniquet, and he was able to tell good Samaritans who stopped at the scene how to strap a belt to his arm to keep from bleeding out.
“We don’t know the person who helped him,” Avelar said. “But whoever it is we would like to thank them for helping my brother save his life.”