Henderson man cheats death, keeps running despite losing feet and hands
Losing his hands and feet after acquiring a flesh-eating bacteria, Henderson resident Eddie Garcia said people often assume that 2013 was the worst year of his life.
“But 2013 was the best year,” he said. “I cheated death. These are just my battle scars.”
The last year has been an adjustment for Garcia, but he has managed.
When people walk up to him not knowing how to shake his hand, he just extends both arms and wraps them around the person pulling them in for a hug.
Tucked away in a blue wristband, he uses his teeth to pull out a silver stylus pen for him to scroll through Facebook on his smartphone and answer the occasional phone call.
“I lose my hands and feet, but I’m fine,” he said. “If I lose my stylus, that’s when I am disabled.”
Garcia, 39, said he is ready to share his experience overcoming the obstacles of the last year.
He and his family moved to Henderson nearly a decade ago when he got a job at O’Callaghan Middle School. He had recently moved from the classroom to the administration side.
In January 2013, Garcia started feeling flulike symptoms.
“But I was too stubborn to go to the doctor,” he said. “Finally, I was really feeling it.”
At the doctors’ office, Garcia collapsed.
“They diagnosed me with having renal failure,” he said. “It kind of becomes a blur after that.”
Doctors put Garcia in a medically induced coma for two weeks to contend with his condition.
They discovered he had contracted a flesh-eating bacteria on his right leg.
“We still aren’t 100 percent sure how it happened,” he said. “We have our guesses, but we will never be certain.”
The doctors were originally able to save the leg. However, the medication he was on to help him survive during the coma came with a high risk.
“They said it was a possibility I would lose my extremities,” he said. “I had lost so much blood to my hands and feet they had basically died.”
His feet were amputated Feb. 21 and his hands about a month later. Doctors told him he would be bed-bound for six months to a year during his recovery. But three months later, Garcia was out of the hospital.
“I tell my children we are Gar-strong,” he said playing off his last name Garcia.
Using that strength, Garcia has carried on by adjusting his lifestyle.
“I’m lucky I have such an amazing wife,” he said. “You would think this would be something that would devastate our family, but we are thriving.”
Garcia had always been a runner, doing 5Ks around town and edging his way to running a marathon.
“After the amputation, I could have easily said I could no longer do it,” he said.
In November, he completed the half of a half marathon in Las Vegas. In 2014, he plans to run the half marathon.
“I know we’ve had amputees there, but I’m not sure if we have had a quadruple amputee,” he said. “I want to be the inspiration. If I can do it, so can you.”
He has even found a sponsor for the run.
“Now I just have to train and lose some weight,” Garcia said. “My wife has me on a special diet. It’s basically air.”
Garcia recently attended Hanger, Inc.’s annual Education Fair and National Meeting, a prosthetics and orthopedics conference. He got to meet Kevin Carroll, the vice president of prosthetics for Hanger.
“Eddie has come a long way,” Carroll said. “It’s inspiring to see what he has been able to do in a year.”
Carroll said the company has evolved in developing prosthetics since it began.
“It started in 1861 when an injured soldier lost a leg,” he said.
Not happy with the prosthetics available, Carroll made his own, which became popular among other amputees. Since then, the company has developed a variety of orthopedic and prosthetic devices.
Carroll is also the co-developer of the dolphin fin prosthetic featured in the movie “Dolphin Tale.” Morgan Freeman played Carroll in the movie.
Garcia is excited to see what the future holds for new prosthetic technology.
“Who knows what technology will bring in five or 10 years?” he said. “I could be a real-life iron man.”
He still has many things he wants to accomplish. One of his goals is to be able to play catch with his children. He is looking into adapting a lacrosse stick to allow him to catch and throw.
After that, he plans to throw out the opening pitch at a professional baseball game one day.
“I’ve reached out to Dodger Stadium to tell them my story, but I haven’t heard back yet,” he said.
Garcia said he will have to retire from the Clark County School District. He plans to touch the lives of children in another way.
“We are in the middle of launching a foundation,” he said.
The foundation, Be Strong and Win, would provide college scholarships for students who have faced adversity.
“It would be for $1,253.17,” he said. “It’s not as random as it sounds.”
When he was in college, he almost had to drop out for financial reasons.
“I was a typical broke college student living off a cup of noodles,” he said.
One semester, he didn’t have enough money to cover tuition.
“Out of nowhere, I got a check in the mail for $1,253.17,” he said. “It was a mini miracle.”
Garcia is also looking into a career as a motivational speaker. He said because of all his experiences, he feels he will be able to reach and inspire people more effectively.
“I had an amazing 38 years with my feet and hands,” he said. “I’ve done great things with them, but I’m not about to stop doing great things.”
For more information, visit bestrongandwin.org.
Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.