Paralyzed LSU cheerleading coach is upbeat, fighting hard

When he was about 11, Chico Garcia and his friends decided it would be fun to pole vault with a stick over the hedges in his yard. After a failed attempt, Garcia landed in the hospital with a broken wrist. Doctors had to give him enough medication for a 300-pound man, and he still felt the pain.

That wasn’t enough to keep young Chico down.

“Through the whole thing he just laughed and laughed and cracked jokes,” recalled Garcia’s mom, Syrjala Garcia. “He just said, ‘Don’t worry about it, it’ll be OK! I’ll be able to jump over that hedge when I get back home.’”

Today, Garcia’s determination is more visible as a 29-year-old quadriplegic fighting to regain sensation and, perhaps, movement, below his chest. Continue Reading »