Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story (2017) Movie Script
1
(dramatic music)
[man] Filming?
[Jennifer] Mmhmm?
Good morning.
I don't know if I should
wave with my right hand
or try and wave
with this hand.
Kinda hurts.
So maybe I'll just
talk about today
and kind of today's
significance
but I'll introduce myself
to my camera first.
Eduardo Garcia, hi.
Today I'm going
into an operation
where I've made a decision
to take off my own limb,
this big ole...
left arm of mine
I've had for 30 years.
And I don't know if it's
always done great things
but it's always done
great things by me.
(music playing)
When I grow up
I want to be a forester
Run through the moss
on high heels
That's what I'll do
Throwing out a boomerang
Waiting for it
to come back to me
That's what I'll have
Staring at a sea shell
Waiting for it
To catch me or hold
(dramatic music)
-(heavy breathing)
-(heart beating)
[Garcia]
I remember coming to
and not being able
to move my body.
But I remember knowing
that I had to move my body.
From that point,
from waking up and rolling
over onto my hands and knees,
there's a gap.
(heavy breathing)
My next memory is the road.
I thought I was
totally in a dream,
somewhere in the mountains.
There's no way I could
be in this sensation
and not be in a dream state.
When I put it together
that I wasn't dreaming
was I could hear birds.
(imitating chirping)
I could hear my boots scuffing
and that was real,
that was then.
And then it clicked.
I was out hunting today.
I came across this metal barrel
that was in the earth.
I looked in it,
there's this decomposing
or decaying carcass.
I want to check it out,
I'm curious,
I take my knife out.
(dramatic music)
(explosion)
But it hits me like
I'm being electrocuted.
I need to get down,
I need to get to a house,
I need to ask
someone to call 911.
(dramatic music)
There was no warning,
it was just this dead
bear in a metal can.
How was I supposed to
know it was on live power?
The outdoors was my first love
and then cooking
was my second.
It came from
my environment.
It was a place of freedom.
Food became this language
that I could speak with anyone
from anywhere in the world.
A passion that was
defining who I was in life
and everything was
just coming together.
Something that you've
worked your whole life for
and having it yanked out
from underneath you.
I don't know how else
to describe that.
My phone just started to buzz.
I'm with your brother,
he's been hurt.
I spoke to the surgeon
and he said that I should
speak to Ed on the phone
because it might be the last
time that I speak to him.
I asked him, "Is he
alive, will he live?"
He said, "I've seen cases
"where people survive
something like this."
He said, "But he would have
some significant handicaps."
[Daphne] There is
a lot of maladies
that come out of
an electrocution
because we just don't
know how it affects
all the other
tissues in the body.
And he just wrote
something like "I love you
and I don't want
to lose my hand."
(rapid breathing)
When Ed first arrived here,
he had several life-
threatening injuries.
It was his hand
which is the entrance wound
and then it was the chest
wall area, his ribs.
He had two areas on his head
which were exit wounds.
He also had a blow out
on his left thigh.
I remember we landed
and the first thing I said
once I woke up
when we landed was,
"So what time are we
going home tonight?"
You know what I mean,
like I just had no
idea how big this was.
[Man] Yeah, the amount of
current that went through you
it's amazing that--
[Woman] You're alive.
[Man] Yeah, so amazing.
[Eduardo] Amazing I'm alive.
[Man] One sec,
we'll clean it off.
[Eduardo] So just
when I look at it,
it just looks gnarly man,
black and funky and--
There's exposed tissue there
and there's concern that
maybe you cut the ribs,
maybe not very alive either.
[Jennifer] Baby,
look at me and smile.
Smile.
It made me really sad
to think of Ed waking up
without a hand and
these horrific injuries
in a dark room by himself
with just a bunch of
machines just beeping.
During the day is when
everything's normal
and as soon as
the night comes,
it's kind of when
crazy stuff happens,
nightmares or whatever
like obviously Ed had
a lot of nightmares
so I was really glad
just to be there
so when he did stir in
the night or whatever.
So really sleeping
there in this chair
was way worth it
and I wouldn't have left.
Yes, he's right here with me.
He's in a little bit of pain
but nothing crazy,
just happy.
That felt so good.
[Man] So that's
you on the CT scanner.
It seemed like they really
cared about each other.
I didn't actually know
that they weren't dating
when I first met 'em.
I thought they were.
I could've been sleeping there
but is that what he needed?
My mom could've been there
sleeping for a month.
Is that what he needed?
No, I think he needed
Jen there.
We have to be
supportive of one another
and if you're used
to being the captain
like I was for example,
you have to let go
of certain things
'cause it's really not about
you that much at that point.
Being alive with
a few handicaps
is much better
than being dead.
That's for sure,
that's for damn sure.
Yeah.
(slow music)
[Kathie] Eduardo and Eugenio
came in on August 4th, 1981,
seven and a half
weeks premature.
We called them the boys.
Indra was two and
a half years old.
We were living in Calabasas
outside of Los Angeles.
Then, when they were
three months old,
their father left
saying he would come back,
that he was gonna
return to Mexico,
he was gonna return to this
little island where he grew up.
I looked at Indra and then I
looked at Eduardo and Eugenio
and I knew that I had
to be there for them
and make the best of
a difficult situation.
She's a very spiritual
woman, my mom
and she founded a
spiritual community in LA.
(slow music)
Almost the entire
community moved to Montana,
I'm talking hundreds of people.
[Indra] There was
definitely like singing
about being Montana bound.
We welcome you to the heart
and we sing the
song of gratitude.
Here, oh universe,
I am grateful.
[Eduardo] I just kind of
think growing up that way
is a privilege.
There's others that
saw our community,
definitely thought it
was a little weird.
I always tell my mom
that was the best move
she could've ever done
was getting us here.
For me it was
almost like we moved
into the set of a National
Geographic magazine.
The mountains had their
own special magical allure
for a child's imagination.
We would spend our summers
fishing in Yellowstone,
running into the hills.
I definitely took
to that very quickly
and made it my home.
[Jennifer] Hello, Ed.
Hey.
No, we're filming this for
just documenting
my recovery for us.
[Woman] Cool.
Yeah.
[Jennifer] It's pretty
hard for a YouTube video.
I saw it as part of the
recovery process to film.
It was really
important to me
that he didn't come
out the other end of it
and be like, why did
you sign that way,
why did you sign this way,
and not really understand.
[Woman] So we would go in
and raise up all
these loose edges
and free them up
so that they can
come together
and allow this hair
to shift to this area.
Okay, and you
think my eyebrows
are gonna be all like this?
[Woman] I hope not.
[Jennifer] Also for Ed,
filming actually kind of
gave him something to do.
See you later, I'm going to
get my head wound closed up.
I'm just kind of coming
out of anesthesia.
[Jennifer] You want
to look at me, Ed?
Very cool.
Ready Jennifer?
[Jennifer] I'm ready.
When you're in the hospital,
every day is the same.
Everything's getting better
but it's very slowly
getting better.
Is it video,
filming right now?
[Jennifer] Mm-hmm.
You close enough?
-[Jennifer] Yep.
-Are you sure?
I think you should
be closer.
Want to turn the light on more?
[Jennifer] No, I'm good.
You're good?
You sure?
[Jennifer] It
just gave a focus
on something other
than just the fact
that we're in a
freaking hospital.
Yes, I got it!
Nailed that sucker!
I've been trying that
for like 10 times.
[Boy]
I'll help you.
[Boy #2] God it's cold.
Hurry up.
I didn't have a dad
growing up.
There was really no one
looking over us saying,
"Don't do that or
don't do this."
It was really our
world to discover
and make our own mistakes
and learn from them.
I just remember that
they were both crazy
and having them both
together was chaos.
Yeah man, what's up with you?
Hey, bitch, come on.
Yeah, you think you're bad.
[Kathie] They had
a lot of energy.
I tried the best I could
to keep Eddie in line.
[Eduardo] I guess
my educational history
is kicked out of nine
different schools
starting with preschool,
disruptive behavior.
First grade was for
filling condoms with piss
and throwing them
down the hallway.
I started a fire in
the boy's bathroom
so I got kicked
out of that school.
[Eugenio] Got into a fight,
we kind of both got kicked
out in that situation
but I think he was
leading the charge.
Eugene, he was 11 years old,
never even thought about
not having a father
and he goes, "I need
to meet my father."
And she said, "Okay."
And within months,
it was literally that fast.
Where's dad and then
we're in Mexico.
All I knew is he was this
incredibly dark, tanned
pirate looking figure
that fished for
sharks and lobster
and lived this crazy
jungle lifestyle.
He was like a hero.
It was idyllic,
me and my twin
brother running around
just having a blast.
Hi, mom.
Hi, guys.
(mariachi music)
We decided to
get together again.
We went through a lot of
changes, a lot of changes,
and then me becoming
pregnant with Ellie
and integrating into a family.
[Eduardo] The first
time my dad's actually
gotten to make a snowball.
I don't know if he
expected himself
to play dad all of a sudden.
Hey, dad, no,
don't throw it!
Say hi.
Hi.
And we're gonna
go say hi to Eduardo
who's having lunch
and he does not know
that dad is here.
(speaking in Spanish)
It's a surprise.
He doesn't know you're here.
No (speaking in
Spanish).
[Eugenio] Whistle, whistle.
(whistling)
(speaking in Spanish)
Hey, how you doing?
How you doing?
Thank you, thank you to be here.
(speaking in Spanish)
[Eduardo] For many years,
he wasn't really my dad,
he was a friend.
[Manuel] Watch it,
don't break the line.
Don't break the line.
It's a big fish, wow.
It's big fish.
Ha ha!
[Eduardo] At 13,
I started using drugs
and then I started smoking
cigarettes with my dad
and doing drugs with my dad
and drinking with my dad
and he becomes my best friend
because he's not telling me no.
And I was already
hanging with a crew
that was tripping on
acid and doing coke
and everything else.
[Kathie] When Eduardo was 17,
he sat at the kitchen
table and he said,
"I realize that my habits
were hurting my family."
[Eduardo] So I'm tired of
living in the shadows of lies
and I just want to
level the field here
and me, Euge, Indra, dad,
we've been using drugs for
years behind your back, mom.
I mean, I was livid.
And I think for Eduardo
going straight was essential.
[Eduardo] I decided if I
want to make an impact in life,
I needed to get to business,
I need to get to work,
I need to be
purposeful in my life.
I had already been cooking in
restaurants since I was 15.
And then I decided
culinary school
was going to be where
I put all my energy
and through that,
I wanted to discover
my potential
on my own without substances.
[Announcer] Eduardo Garcia.
(audience applause)
[Eduardo] Danielle, you
want to see something cool?
Come here.
[Jennifer] Yeah,
this is pretty cool.
So, this is lefty,
you now lefty, Danielle?
[Danielle] Yeah.
I can feel all my
fingers still over there
even though they're not there.
That's my thumb moving,
this is my pinky moving.
Maybe I'll be able to
get a prosthetic limb
that has like some
kind of sensors.
I don't want the ones that are
supposed to look like hands.
I want like cool, custom made
like hardwood cherry hands
or oak or like titanium, I
don't know, something cool.
[Woman] Antler.
Fucking yeah,
antler, like bone,
kinda cool.
[Woman] That's awesome.
That is awesome.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Only time I was worried for him
was when he had
his chest operation
because they'd never done
anything like it before.
With the rib, you
can't just cut it off
and leave a hole in the chest.
What we have to do
is try to find ways
to cover that up.
[Jennifer] So we had
like the burn team,
the plastic surgeon team,
the cardiothoracic team,
everybody around the bed
just kind of
brainstorming essentially
what muscle they
could take from where.
[Doctor] Everything
that's dead.
-Gotta go.
-[Doctor] Gotta go, yeah.
That may leave you with a
hole on your chest this big.
Yes, sir.
[Doctor] Like kind of
stick my head in it kind of.
Yes, sir.
The likelihood of you
doing pull ups again is zero.
Pull ups again
-in a year?
-Ever, ever.
You're gonna have,
your lat's gonna be
turned around to here.
(knives scraping)
[Eduardo] I just wrapped
up a very successful year
as a yacht chef,
11 years of hard work.
My way of cooking as a
professional yacht chef
really became: get there,
figure out what's in the market,
what's local, what's in season
and then figure out
how to put it together.
Definitely developing as a chef.
You're going around the world.
There were all
kinds of adventures.
It kickstarted a time of life
where I was accountable
to myself only
and myself was interested in
letting loose a little bit.
So that is what
brought me into hey,
been six, seven years
since I've had a beer,
hmm, there's a drink being
passed around, yeah, why not?
I remember sitting on the
couch at the crew house
when Jen walked in
and where we connected
was she was game to have fun.
I wanted to go surf five
a.m. and be at work by eight.
Hand went up,
she's like, "I'm in."
[Jennifer] Most people just
wanted to go to the bars.
He was the only
person on the yacht
that liked to surf
and run and skateboard
and all the things I like to do.
And we started hanging out more.
And then we started dating.
[Eduardo] She was
keen to dance, to play,
to express, to live.
(laughing)
[Man] Ed's walking.
[Eduardo] I think I
felt a responsibility
to be tougher than
I should have been
because of how hard everyone
was working around me.
[Woman] Okay ready?
Turn around.
[Eduardo] There's gonna
be someone else out there
that has it worse than you do.
Just be grateful for
what you do have.
[Woman] Everything feel okay?
Yeah, I wish I could
use this sucker.
You can yeah.
Pretend.
Yeah.
[Eduardo] Gotta pretend
he's doing something.
That sucker has no
free rides, man.
Thanks.
[Nurse] You done?
No, I'm not done.
I'm just saying thanks.
I appreciate it.
[Nurse] No problem.
This is my new
typing attachment.
Gonna help me just
do some simple typing
until I get my prosthetic
in, kinda cool.
I never felt a fear for my life.
I felt anxiety about
everyday matters of life,
how I'd get back to life.
This is awesome.
That's great.
I think hiking is gonna be
some of the best
therapy I'll ever do.
(exhales)
You know, how am I
going to be me again?
Not to be funny but
this is my first stab
at working with a prosthetic
or any attachment on lefty.
Works.
And Jen invented,
show the camera, Jen .
Basically it's
this two foot fork
and one end's for scratching,
one end's for eating,
do not confuse the two.
Thank you.
Well done you.
I know it's kind
of weird for you.
Not just kind of weird,
very, very messed up
but well done you for hanging
in there 37 days with me
and not abandoning me
for some other whatever.
I wonder if I can just launch
this carrot at my face.
Oh, yeah.
[Jennifer] We had this
amazing relationship
but I had two minds,
part of me was telling me
that Eduardo was the
most amazing guy ever
and then the other part of
my brain was just telling me
that something was going on,
he was disingenuous.
He just said that
I was paranoid,
that I should shut up,
that all of his friends
thought I was a mean person
for even suggesting
such a thing.
[Eduardo] And I didn't
make the connection
that me cheating on
her would somehow
subconsciously speak to her.
And I don't remember
how I said it,
I remember sitting on the
port side of the yacht
and just spitting it out
like there was this time,
there was that time,
there was this time,
there was that time.
And then I was just
destroyed, I think,
because it wasn't this
kind of like one off thing
it was actually kind of
two years of complete lies.
He's been cheating
on me basically
for most of our relationship,
that just hurt.
[Eduardo] It was a recurrence
of that same time when I was 17
like shit, how have my
actions become actions
that are hurting people,
not who I want to be in life.
It was time to clean up my act.
I came home for seven months,
no drugs, no alcohol, just a
lot of time in the outdoors,
a lot of time working.
I was so depressed,
so physically ill.
I had this cabin in Montana
that was really rough
and I remember fixing
up the interior
with a goal that maybe
Jen'll come back to Montana,
no expectations,
I don't need you to get
back together with me.
[Jennifer] Despite everything,
you love who you love
and I wanted
to be there for him
and help him get
through everything.
[Eduardo] It
was the first time
her and I had been in the
same space clean and clear.
[Jennifer] He was
definitely trying to show me
that he was somebody that
now did actually care.
So when I have my
ridiculous photo ideas
he was up for that.
[Eduardo] When we start
talking about something
and we're both into it,
it's unstoppable
the amount of ideas
that come out.
I left my full time career as
a yacht chef after a decade
and I was ready for
a career change.
Together with Jen,
my brother, my sister,
we started a food company
called Montana Mex.
[Jennifer] And on top of that,
we started planning
for Eduardo to have a
outdoor cooking show.
Rolling.
[Jennifer] We're just
on a rampage of creativity
and it was super fun.
[Eduardo] That's when
I got to know Jen ,
like the business part of Jen ,
the intellectual part of Jen ,
the creative part of Jen ,
the challenging parts of Jen.
Look how big our ducks are.
That was the beginning of
our friendship for sure.
And I put this on it
because otherwise
when I'm in bed
it will just keep me up.
You've been doing it
that same way every night?
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
I don't know, I don't feel
like I need to sleep in
a real bed at all really,
it's fine.
It was a very bizarre situation
'cause you're trying
to care for somebody
who is going through
the pit of hell
but at the same time,
I also had all these things
from obviously the relationship
that Ed and I had previously.
Did you make it?
No, it was so close.
It landed right side up.
Try it again, try it again.
Ugh, that's even worse.
Obviously annoys me at times
but I love him,
I've loved him a long time.
I will always love him.
[Man] Please breathe
in and hold your breath.
Start breathing again.
[Amalia Cochran] The testicle
that had been damaged
from the electrical
injury was not viable
and there was no way for
us to help it survive.
So that's discussion number
one that we're having
with a young healthy guy
and his family
about it is our recommendation
that we do this.
[Jennifer] For
whatever reason,
he chose me to be the signer.
Especially because of
the cheating thing,
it's like almost hilarious
this sense that the ex
girlfriend that was cheated on
got to sign away his testicle.
[Doctor] Your charts look good,
your blood looks good,
you kind of went through
the basic and then
but we got some bad news.
The pathology report pops up
and low and behold there's
a testicular cancer.
[Eduardo] Are you kidding me?
My focus right now is figuring
out how to be an amputee,
other surgeries
that are ongoing,
picking myself up out of
the ground for the most part
and on top of that you're
asking me to deal with cancer?
[Jennifer] And that's
when they realized
it was second stage
because he had a tumor
halfway up his spine as well.
[Eduardo] Any chance to
see that tumor clot on my?
[Man] Yeah.
That's big, man.
[Jennifer] Basically
they couldn't do all the
reconstructive surgeries
because he needed to get
not chemotherapy immediately
before it went to his brain.
So...
I forgot one.
It just became my
norm being in ICU,
you know what I mean?
It became my norm.
[Jennifer] How do you feel?
Mechanical.
[Jennifer] But in a cool way?
Yeah, I think so.
I think I was actually terrified
to leave the hospital.
The doctors in the burn unit
decided I was healthy
enough to go home
or leave the hospital today.
So we packed up our stuff
and put it in the truck.
Pretty amazing that
we're out of here,
pretty fucking
glad I didn't die.
I don't have my left hand.
But otherwise we're
in really great shape,
really great shape.
I think I got over there
two or three days
after he was discharged
and I worried about them both.
Although they were
pulling together,
there was an atmosphere
because they were
both so exhausted,
both so exhausted.
(laughing)
We didn't know what
to do for Christmas
and I think I'll
never, ever forget
the fact that we decided to
go to Arches National Park
and it was just unbelievable
when I could see Ed's face
thinking that even he had said
he never thought
that would happen.
(laughing)
[Eduardo] What's
happening now?
Let's check it out,
let's check it out.
Just stay shoulders right
over your feet, okay?
Yeah, you're good,
it's no problem.
Look at Jen and your feet.
[Corinne] Then they got
me across this high thing
that was so steep I didn't
think I'd get across
but he said,
"No, you're scared,
"we'll get you across this."
[Eduardo] Take it like that,
two, three steps
at a time, pause,
two, three, don't think
of it as a big wall,
okay, very good, very good.
You did great.
That was, this is
just fear, isn't it?
He'd survived,
nothing else, the fact
that he'd survived through
in a wonderful place.
[Eduardo] She's insane, huh?
Ed was, even at
that very short space
that he'd been out
of hospital,
no one would guess that
he was going through
what he was going through.
[Eduardo] I don't remember
the day I arrived home.
It must have been
momentous in that sense
but I don't remember
walking in
to my house
for the first time
and opening the door.
What I remember was
wanting to hide,
I don't even know why.
Locally I live in
a small community.
They knew I had
been electrocuted.
You couldn't hide that
I was missing a hand
but you know what,
I could hide the fact
that I was going through cancer.
Today is February the seventh
and it's official,
my hair is falling out.
Bucket.
You see that?
Bink, how disgusting.
Bink, bink, oh my.
Jen, do you want to try this?
You might enjoy it.
[Jennifer] I will.
Holy, look at that.
[Jennifer] I can
make a bald patch.
Hey, baby, do it
systematically.
[Jennifer] I'm
turning you into my dad.
Look at you.
[Jennifer] This
is just like my dad.
Does it not hurt at all?
This is excellent fun.
No, if it hurt,
I would ask you to stop.
It hurts a little.
Grab a clump and
just go for it but.
Pink.
It's literally
like having a cat.
You've always wanted a cat.
(slow music)
(laughing)
(dramatic music)
[Jennifer] How are you doing?
I'm hanging in there.
It's been a long week.
Pretty nauseous almost
every day this week
but we're hanging in there.
I'm getting my pick
line taken out today
so it'll be nice.
[Jennifer] Happy?
Yeah, thanks.
[Nurse] You're welcome.
Back on Monday,
Monday at noon.
[Jennifer] When he was
going through everything
the priority was get
him rehabilitated
and get him back to life.
But further down the list
is what is the deal with
our relationship as a whole?
How are we gonna get
out of this as friends?
What's gonna happen
in the future?
(hens crowing)
The doubt didn't start
until I tried actually
getting back to life again.
All of a sudden overnight
at 30 years old,
I had to rethink how to do
every single task.
Ashes is one of my favorite
place to hike anywhere.
You now had my mom, Jen , my
sister, my brother, my dad,
take a bear spray,
don't hike alone.
Really concerned
about my ability
to be the guy I was
a few months before.
[Jennifer] Ed losing his hand
is really something
that everybody sees
but not many people know
that he also lost so
much of his muscle mass
from his torso, from
his legs, from his arms.
The fact is that he operates
with way less muscle
than most of us do.
[Eduardo] It's such a
horrible thing, you know,
to have someone care for you
and for you to
think, "Hey back off,
I need a moment to see
if I can do this again.
Give me a second
to fail on my own."
[Jennifer] I think what a
lot of people see with recovery
is this grand coming
out of oh I'm recovered
and actually it isn't that.
It's this kind of
never-ending process
of a million little
achievements.
Undoing these knots
is definitely proving to
be a little more difficult
but I don't think undoing knots
is ever easy for anybody.
There it goes.
That's a deer.
I love to hike for elk antlers
and my goal was I want
to be able to hike
a solid eight miles
into the back country
and feel strong about it.
Being outdoors was
my recovery, 110%
and that was where I,
it was my way
of rehabilitating.
That's a heavy pack.
I would get home at 5 p.m.
and there'd be a race.
If I couldn't get a meal
under my belt by six,
I would be too sick
to cook a meal,
I would lose all interest.
I guess as a bonus,
I don't have to worry
about cutting the fingers
off of my left hand
anymore when I'm chopping.
I'd be pretty crushed if
I couldn't cook anymore,
be pretty crushed.
It was only until
I actually started
getting back into
trying to cook again
that it all started to click.
I'm like, "Wait a minute,
my career is built off of
the ability to work quickly,
efficiently with my hands.
Fuck, I got one
hand and a forearm."
That's hot.
We knew that my
chemotherapy treatments
would be a three-month ordeal
and we just had to survive that
and the day it ended my
focus immediately shifted
to, "Okay, let's get back
to recovery.
We've got a long
list of things
that still need
to be healed."
[Jennifer] Do you want
to describe what was here
when you were electrocuted?
Not a big box with
working locks on it.
I'd have probably stumbled
straight down here.
Let's see if it goes
to a road.
[Jennifer] Yeah,
you want to follow it?
-Yeah.
-[Jennifer] Okay.
I don't know if I saw
some of these trees.
Incredible, I can't remember.
I didn't like being up there
standing next to that box.
It was hard.
Trying not to feel anger
through this whole event
and then you go back to the
site where you nearly died
and you're looking at it
and it's...
locked up,
posted, sealed,
huge padlocks,
shut down, safe.
That's how it should've been
when I was up here hiking.
That's how it should've been.
It angered me to see that.
One tiny event can
rock you so hard.
I didn't feel a need to
stay there for too long,
it turned me.
Hello.
(speaking in Spanish)
Dad, you're here
early though, man.
[Manuel] Huh?
(speaking in Spanish)
I was totally joking with dad
but I guess he's here to work.
That's harder.
Isn't that weird?
You see the circulation
missing in that finger?
It just gets,
they get cold.
I think there's nerve
damage or something.
The scar's healing nicely.
Yeah.
I'm glad it's
got nice and flat.
Try to open it up a little bit.
That's better,
you got some blood to it now.
Good job, Indra.
Yeah.
[Jennifer] When we
were in the hospital,
Indra and I,
we'd like shamelessly get
out all of our paperwork
and we'd be running our company.
Let's make sure
that our company
doesn't go completely under.
We've got stuff to do,
we've got stuff that
needs to happen,
we have things that need to
not be lost because of this.
[Eduardo] That will come off.
[Man] There you go.
[Eduardo] That's pretty cool.
[Man] So how you
gonna trigger it?
Just bring it up.
Oh, just click
it on your cheek.
Oh, there you go.
Yeah.
Alright.
There was one
online for 1,100 bucks
and I figured
we could make one
so it's like I'm $33
into it right now.
And exactly,
and Montana style.
I mean, I think we could tweak
it maybe a little more but,
You got this?
Jesus.
Alright, step one.
[Eduardo] I like it.
Super lightweight, super
strong, it's cleanable.
It's just a--
You guys are doing
this right here?
This is what we're
about to build?
Yeah.
That's so neat.
What's going on?
(whirring)
(hammering)
It's pretty just phenomenal
to be able to sit in
this shop all day long,
make these little changes
almost immediately,
go back and forth,
go back and forth
without having to ship a
product back to the maker
and then get it a week later,
that kind of a process.
That was quick.
I'm ready to take it off.
Yeah, let's do this.
That's it, destruction,
it did well, that thing,
that thing's done well.
It's pretty cool.
I think I'm gonna have a
hard time beating this up.
It'll be like a new surf board.
Once you get the first
ding the it'll be alright
but until then, polish it off
at the end of every night.
Crank down.
Crank it down so
you can really just--
Do a pull up.
Yeah, and that's kind of
when it's gonna be necessary.
[Woman] Nice, wow, fantastic.
Good work.
That's a start.
The guy before the injury,
very confident about
where I was in life
to overnight being a guy
with one hand instead of two,
holes in my ribcage,
cancer also on top of that.
A year worth of
surgeries in front of me,
no idea what my long term
capacities were gonna be,
and no idea if I
could even go back
to the career that I'd
worked since I was 15 on.
There you go.
See if you come over here, Sam,
see it's almost like the
snow kept it from freezing
on top of something.
Except for the one thing,
never doubting
that I would live.
The second my eyes opened
on that forest floor
and I had a heartbeat,
I'm gonna get myself
out of here
and I'm gonna get myself
back to that, back to life.
[Jennifer] How
you doing today, Ed?
I'm good.
I'm about to fly
out to New Mexico
for this catering gig
so getting my knives sharpened,
feeling a little time
crunched right now.
I was just looking around
and it's pretty awesome place
to be sharpening your knives,
out in your front yard.
I like it.
So marinade for the?
Yeah, dry, dry rub.
Ranga and I are doing
a little at home testing
for this catering gig.
It's quite a big function.
It's over the course
of a week, 150 people.
Working with guests
and what are people gonna
think about the crazy hand
and I like the way
this one looks.
I feel more confident
with it, that's for sure.
I haven't put one of
these on in almost a year.
That's the longest
time I've ever gone
without putting one of
these on since I was 15.
(upbeat music)
Firing it up.
Ranga, these
hors d'oeuvres can go.
Guys how far are you
on having a single platter done?
Guess.
Two minutes?
-Uh, three.
-Let's go.
(upbeat music)
Summer squash salad,
thank you.
Put that with the vinaigrette,
feel free to splash some
shrimp, send it out.
Thank you.
Hold up, they're calling me.
It's Jen , I'm a little busy.
That's perfect, get it in.
Awesome.
Ah.
Nice work, Jeff.
[Jeff] You're
working too hard.
It's August 4th,
it's my birthday,
I turn 31 today.
I didn't die this last fall.
I've been thinking about
that yesterday and today.
I could not be here.
It could've been game
over but it wasn't.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Eduardo
Happy birthday to you
(clapping)
Thanks, guys.
(yelling)
Thank you.
[Woman] Have you had
any surgeries or anything
since we last saw you?
No.
[Woman] Okay.
[Eduardo] I have a
check up every six months.
I don't know if I'm gonna
get good or bad news.
[Woman] Take a deep
breath in and hold it.
I'm happy to say that
today I'm cancer free,
I'm a survivor
and I don't know what is gonna
happen six months from now
and that's always
on my mind a little
but I'm not gonna let
that take control of me.
Haven't used you since
Costa Rica, have we?
You're gonna be a mess.
University of Utah Burn
Center, Eduardo Garcia,
"Bethany Hamilton
surfboard handle kit.
"The kit and this handle
"has enabled her to control
her board underwater
"with only hand
while duck diving."
I'm not gonna think for
the people around me.
I'm not gonna wonder if
they think I look weird
or "Oh my God, that guy's got
a fucking hole in his head."
It's like an experience
like this teaches you
to be incredibly happy
with who you are,
no matter what
you're going through.
And for that,
I'm grateful.
(happy music)
I want to jump right into it
and them I'm hurting myself.
I think if I hurt myself,
there'd be a lot of people
pretty angry at me.
(upbeat music)
Well, hopefully we'll do
it again, that's for sure.
Half experimental, half
"How do I do this safely?"
There's a bull right down here
probably in this pocket.
(upbeat music)
There's two bulls
sparring over there.
(bulls yelping)
Love that.
(upbeat music)
[Katie Couric] Eduardo Garcia
was leading a life
most people only dream of
but when he returned
home to Montana,
his life changed forever.
Please welcome the man
known as the bionic chef,
Eduardo Garcia.
(audience applause)
Please welcome
chef Eduardo Garcia.
Our chef Eduardo Garcia, thank
you so much for joining us.
(speaking in Spanish)
(audience applause)
Wow, you're so handsome.
Oh, Katie.
How do you, tell us,
does this allow you to,
obviously it allows you to
do everything you need to do?
I mean I got a walnut
crusher down here.
Did it come like that,
that walnut crusher?
Did that come like that?
Custom.
[Man] Custom crusher.
And if you have to like
grab an apple or something,
you just go phew?
Whacha!
That's so funny.
So you've traveled a
lot around the world.
What would you say was the most
beautiful place you'd been?
Montana.
Montana, well that's
where you live now?
That's why I live there.
Getting there.
We are getting there.
[Jennifer] Hello.
-(chicken clucking)
-(rooster crowing)
Although Eduardo and I
aren't in a romantic
relationship anymore,
we have one of the strongest
relationships I've known.
Beyond there's Bing.
What are you doing
in there Bing?
[Jennifer] I feel right now
that Ed and I are best friends
and that's kind of the
way it should be, I think,
for us both to be
who we want to be.
In the moment sitting
there in the hospital,
I didn't realize
how severe it was
and I obviously
didn't realize
how impactful it was
on you or my family
or even myself until now
three and a half years later
and you and I are
trying to get on
with our businesses
and our projects,
trying to get on
with our friendship,
with our relationship,
and realizing how
much personal growth,
how much pain,
how much struggle,
everybody experienced and
how much was put on hold
just so that
the focus could be
on Ed getting
through recovery,
Ed getting through surgery.
It takes people like
years and years and years
to like get out
of where they are.
Then suddenly you're on TV
just like oh yeah,
I happen to have this hook,
it's no big deal
and nobody sees that
coming back home.
Sometimes I'm not in the mood.
I actually don't want
to deal with this.
I don't want to have
to explain...
any of it.
[Eduardo] I think I
knew the pain that I felt
not having a dad
has stuck with me
my whole life.
You know, like I made
peace with my dad
and I have the opportunity
of a lifetime right now.
I get to see his mistakes
and I get to apply
those to my life.
If you had to say
who you were,
how do you describe
Manuel at 19?
(speaking in Spanish)
Where were you in your
level of skill as a fisherman?
Not Mexico,
round trip ticket anywhere
in the world right now.
Cancun.
No, besides Cancun.
Nowhere in Mexico,
where would you go?
Nowhere.
Right here.
-Empanadas?
-Empanadas.
Do you have any regrets,
things you would do different?
[Kathie] How is the
person that you are today
different than the person
that you were before?
We made it.
That was good, dad.
It's strange being like
early 30s, no kids,
to think having a pet
is the first,
it's like a starter kit,
it's that first step
to having some type
of responsibility
or some type of thing
that depends on you
at least a little bit.
I think it was the best thing
Jen and I've done in years
was get this cat.
[Jennifer] Run along, Bing.
-Did you get that catnip?
-[Jennifer] Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
[Jennifer] Oh, she
likes it with you.
That's 'cause I crushed it,
I got the oils going.
Right, Bings?
Yesterday you were saying
how you feel
that you can't identify
right now with yourself.
Well, to be in a relationship
is the immediate opportunity
to hurt someone else, right?
Or to make their life amazing.
-Or to make their life--
-That's the point of it.
But I'm aware of that.
You're such a pain, man.
I'm trying to reconvince myself
that I am capable of being in
a relationship with someone
without fucking them over.
You know, if it's somebody
who's really supportive
of you and awesome,
it might actually
make it a bit easier
'cause then you
know that you have--
That's funny, that was you.
Well, yeah.
Yeah, well, hmmph, true.
My hope is that you and I
continue to be better friends
than others can really
hope to understand.
You know how
impactful you've been,
you know that I can't,
I cannot pay you back
nor can I validate what
you've done for me, like ever.
[Jennifer] I know.
At some point, I realized that
he didn't need me anymore.
I didn't need to be there
100% of the time
and the caregiver.
I chose to put my life on hold
but I've still been
wanting to do things for me
and one of those things
has been wanting to
do stand up comedy.
Honestly, I think
the stand up thing
came from not being heard.
I'm very confident that
I'm gonna struggle a lot
just to speak clearly,
just to not be so nervous
in a room full of people
that are looking at you.
[Eduardo] I'm proud
of us for surviving.
I have an undending amount
of gratitude for Jen .
Do what you need to do,
be who you want to be
and tell me how I
can support you.
My role, I'm a friend, I care.
[Announcer] We've got
two first timers tonight.
Jen.
(happy music)
So, I'm on Tinder...
The favorite parts
are what we'll keep
Ornamental parts of
love and parts of memories
So everything else
has room to grow
'Cause in better light,
everything changes
No, I don't think Ed owes me.
I think we did
pretty well together.
What we've experienced and what
we've been through together
forms a friendship
which is pretty epic.
There's no race,
there's only a runner
Just keep one foot
in front of the other
There's no race,
there's only a runner
One, two, three,
and then you get tired
Just keep one foot
in front of the other
There's no race,
no ending in sight
No second too short,
no window too tight
Turn off the
lights when you leave
'Cause we've got
everything we're gonna need
We're on the run, we're
on the run, we're on the run
Tell our story
We made something of ourselves
One day, tell our story
We made something, we
made something of ourselves.
Okay.
[Eduardo] That is one
of the most unique ones
we've ever picked.
Whoa.
She knows something's funny.
I wonder if she's picking up on,
this is all Jen's stuff.
Hey, come here.
Don't you worry,
Jen is moving out.
She'll come back to us,
Bing, don't you worry.
Don't you worry.
She's moving out but
she is not leaving.
I told her that you're moving
out but you're not leaving.
[Jennifer] Is he okay?
Look at Bing.
Bing was trying to
hide in the mattress
so she could go with you.
[Jennifer] Of course she was.
That's okay.
(singing in Spanish)
(speaking in Spanish)
I know.
I know.
[Eduardo] I would say that
my greatest struggle every day
is just being true
to who I want to be.
My strength has always been
working within the physical.
The emotional challenges,
I'm finding way harder.
A friend of mine recommended
I check out a group
called the Challenged
Athletes Foundation.
Good to see you, man.
You too.
At my first CAF event,
a lower arm amputee
stepped right up to me,
pointed and said,
"Hey, are you running
"with your prosthetic on?"
And that was the first
time I can remember
really being in public
with my nude forearm
without trying to hide it.
There was no denying it,
it was like boom,
that's your amputation.
That was my "ah-ha" moment.
I am an amputee,
I am missing my left hand.
It is a part of who I am
and it doesn't define me,
I'm not Eduardo
Garcia, the amputee,
I'm just Eduardo.
[Starter]
Swimmers set...
(horn blows)
In my every day life,
I don't have any other amputees
that are in my
close friend group
or in my community
that I know of
that I can bounce
my successes,
my losses,
my hard times off of.
We inspire and
motivate each other
by watching what
we're capable of.
It's incredible.
Disabilities like
what happened to Eduardo
in a way is like
being born again
'cause your life gets
flipped upside down
and you start over
whether you want
to admit it or not
it's flipped upside down.
[Eduardo] Scoot back a little.
Okay.
[Willie] You ultimately, you
gotta find who you are again.
[Eduardo] That was so cool,
I watched you catch
that first wave in.
That was awesome.
That was awesome.
Up and over.
I've never tried surfing
without my prosthetic on
so that's gonna be a first.
I know it's kind of just,
it's a safe zone to discover
and really be super
vulnerable and super open
and grow together.
I truly feel
this urgent need
to say thanks at large
like that asshole kid
that was so selfish
and focused on my own stuff,
I almost feel guilty
that I got so much given to me.
I wouldn't be here if
it wasn't for others
so my life moving forward
needs to be in some
dedication to others.
I've inflicted a lot
of pain in my life.
I've been a class A
beep, I have, I have.
I have been so many
times in my life
just focused on what I want.
I think I've always
been a driven person,
I think I've always
had more energy
than anyone knew
what to do with.
You get kicked out of
nine schools, I mean,
but I think this experience
it did a couple of things.
It fortified my interest in
making every moment count
and it also encouraged me
that this is a life
worth living
and it's a life worth living
really, really, really well.
I mean, I have bad days, for
sure, this sucks, it does,
but I'm not gonna live in that.
My choice is I'd
rather wake up and say,
"Hey, I'm gonna put a
stainless steel plate
"on the bottom of that
and now I've got a hammer."
The curiosity that maybe
got me electrocuted
"Oh, what's that?
It's a dead bear,
that's kind of
weird looking." (buzzing)
Maybe that curiosity is
what pushes me through.
I'm fortunate to
just still be alive
but it's those mistakes
that you make,
you learn from 'em,
I'm not touching any more bears.
But it doesn't mean I'm
not lifting up twigs
and looking for things
and seeing where
opportunity lies.
Here's the thing
is caregivers kind of get
the blind sight, right,
like I had the People
magazine write up
and I was on Good
Morning America
and I got flown to New York
and there's been a
lot of publicity on me
and absolutely zero on every
single person that helped me
and without them,
I wouldn't have made
it through that.
So I would encourage,
if you're out there right now
and you're helping
your best friend,
your little brother or sister,
your mom, your dad, whoever,
to get through a hard time
and you feel like all
the attention's on them,
they can't do it without you
and without your support.
So I want any number of people
to join me right here,
grab my left hand,
grab my right hand,
join it up with that corner,
join it up with that corner
and I want to see if this
entire room in the next minute
can connect hands, go.
Everybody find your pulse.
That pulse is now going
through every single one of us.
We are connected.
[Man] Thanks.
Yeah man, 100%, you too.
You can just like
hold on to it like.
Just listening to your
story about troubles in school
is just very inspiring for me
because everything
that you've said
I could kind of relate to.
Thanks for coming out.
My brother was in the ICU
about the same time as you.
He got hit with a
firework and was burned,
he's seven but it's been tough.
How's he doing?
He's doing really good.
Nice.
Sounds like you've been
there for him though?
Yeah.
That's awesome, man.
That's the stuff.
(upbeat music)
I left this parking lot four
years ago today at 10:30.
You look at my experiences
leading into this injury,
maybe I'm doing myself no favors
by just continuing
to push through
and not stopping to
take a full appraisal
of why I am the way I am
and how much it means to change.
Everyone that has encouraged
me and supported me
and forgiven me and
held me accountable
has brought me to today
and how I make my
life moving forward.
You're damn right
I would go back.
Funny last time I
was here with Jen
I couldn't even stand here.
I was so pissed, man.
I was so pissed.
It feels like a long time ago.
It feels like more
than four years ago.
It feels like a lifetime ago.
You know what I'm saying?
(dramatic music)
All my fears are running wild
Dragging me mile after mile
Think it's time
I take the reigns
Playing a hero for a change
'Cause I'm stronger,
I'm stronger than my
Fears
Over fields of doubt I march
Fighting hard
to frame my heart
Still I hear
my old fears call
Who are you
to stand so tall
Well I'm stronger,
I'm stronger than my
Fears
Hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey
Every day
we have a choice
Fear has nothing
but a voice
It may whisper,
it may scream
Well I'm no longer listening
'Cause I'm stronger,
I'm stronger than my
Fears.
(dramatic music)
[man] Filming?
[Jennifer] Mmhmm?
Good morning.
I don't know if I should
wave with my right hand
or try and wave
with this hand.
Kinda hurts.
So maybe I'll just
talk about today
and kind of today's
significance
but I'll introduce myself
to my camera first.
Eduardo Garcia, hi.
Today I'm going
into an operation
where I've made a decision
to take off my own limb,
this big ole...
left arm of mine
I've had for 30 years.
And I don't know if it's
always done great things
but it's always done
great things by me.
(music playing)
When I grow up
I want to be a forester
Run through the moss
on high heels
That's what I'll do
Throwing out a boomerang
Waiting for it
to come back to me
That's what I'll have
Staring at a sea shell
Waiting for it
To catch me or hold
(dramatic music)
-(heavy breathing)
-(heart beating)
[Garcia]
I remember coming to
and not being able
to move my body.
But I remember knowing
that I had to move my body.
From that point,
from waking up and rolling
over onto my hands and knees,
there's a gap.
(heavy breathing)
My next memory is the road.
I thought I was
totally in a dream,
somewhere in the mountains.
There's no way I could
be in this sensation
and not be in a dream state.
When I put it together
that I wasn't dreaming
was I could hear birds.
(imitating chirping)
I could hear my boots scuffing
and that was real,
that was then.
And then it clicked.
I was out hunting today.
I came across this metal barrel
that was in the earth.
I looked in it,
there's this decomposing
or decaying carcass.
I want to check it out,
I'm curious,
I take my knife out.
(dramatic music)
(explosion)
But it hits me like
I'm being electrocuted.
I need to get down,
I need to get to a house,
I need to ask
someone to call 911.
(dramatic music)
There was no warning,
it was just this dead
bear in a metal can.
How was I supposed to
know it was on live power?
The outdoors was my first love
and then cooking
was my second.
It came from
my environment.
It was a place of freedom.
Food became this language
that I could speak with anyone
from anywhere in the world.
A passion that was
defining who I was in life
and everything was
just coming together.
Something that you've
worked your whole life for
and having it yanked out
from underneath you.
I don't know how else
to describe that.
My phone just started to buzz.
I'm with your brother,
he's been hurt.
I spoke to the surgeon
and he said that I should
speak to Ed on the phone
because it might be the last
time that I speak to him.
I asked him, "Is he
alive, will he live?"
He said, "I've seen cases
"where people survive
something like this."
He said, "But he would have
some significant handicaps."
[Daphne] There is
a lot of maladies
that come out of
an electrocution
because we just don't
know how it affects
all the other
tissues in the body.
And he just wrote
something like "I love you
and I don't want
to lose my hand."
(rapid breathing)
When Ed first arrived here,
he had several life-
threatening injuries.
It was his hand
which is the entrance wound
and then it was the chest
wall area, his ribs.
He had two areas on his head
which were exit wounds.
He also had a blow out
on his left thigh.
I remember we landed
and the first thing I said
once I woke up
when we landed was,
"So what time are we
going home tonight?"
You know what I mean,
like I just had no
idea how big this was.
[Man] Yeah, the amount of
current that went through you
it's amazing that--
[Woman] You're alive.
[Man] Yeah, so amazing.
[Eduardo] Amazing I'm alive.
[Man] One sec,
we'll clean it off.
[Eduardo] So just
when I look at it,
it just looks gnarly man,
black and funky and--
There's exposed tissue there
and there's concern that
maybe you cut the ribs,
maybe not very alive either.
[Jennifer] Baby,
look at me and smile.
Smile.
It made me really sad
to think of Ed waking up
without a hand and
these horrific injuries
in a dark room by himself
with just a bunch of
machines just beeping.
During the day is when
everything's normal
and as soon as
the night comes,
it's kind of when
crazy stuff happens,
nightmares or whatever
like obviously Ed had
a lot of nightmares
so I was really glad
just to be there
so when he did stir in
the night or whatever.
So really sleeping
there in this chair
was way worth it
and I wouldn't have left.
Yes, he's right here with me.
He's in a little bit of pain
but nothing crazy,
just happy.
That felt so good.
[Man] So that's
you on the CT scanner.
It seemed like they really
cared about each other.
I didn't actually know
that they weren't dating
when I first met 'em.
I thought they were.
I could've been sleeping there
but is that what he needed?
My mom could've been there
sleeping for a month.
Is that what he needed?
No, I think he needed
Jen there.
We have to be
supportive of one another
and if you're used
to being the captain
like I was for example,
you have to let go
of certain things
'cause it's really not about
you that much at that point.
Being alive with
a few handicaps
is much better
than being dead.
That's for sure,
that's for damn sure.
Yeah.
(slow music)
[Kathie] Eduardo and Eugenio
came in on August 4th, 1981,
seven and a half
weeks premature.
We called them the boys.
Indra was two and
a half years old.
We were living in Calabasas
outside of Los Angeles.
Then, when they were
three months old,
their father left
saying he would come back,
that he was gonna
return to Mexico,
he was gonna return to this
little island where he grew up.
I looked at Indra and then I
looked at Eduardo and Eugenio
and I knew that I had
to be there for them
and make the best of
a difficult situation.
She's a very spiritual
woman, my mom
and she founded a
spiritual community in LA.
(slow music)
Almost the entire
community moved to Montana,
I'm talking hundreds of people.
[Indra] There was
definitely like singing
about being Montana bound.
We welcome you to the heart
and we sing the
song of gratitude.
Here, oh universe,
I am grateful.
[Eduardo] I just kind of
think growing up that way
is a privilege.
There's others that
saw our community,
definitely thought it
was a little weird.
I always tell my mom
that was the best move
she could've ever done
was getting us here.
For me it was
almost like we moved
into the set of a National
Geographic magazine.
The mountains had their
own special magical allure
for a child's imagination.
We would spend our summers
fishing in Yellowstone,
running into the hills.
I definitely took
to that very quickly
and made it my home.
[Jennifer] Hello, Ed.
Hey.
No, we're filming this for
just documenting
my recovery for us.
[Woman] Cool.
Yeah.
[Jennifer] It's pretty
hard for a YouTube video.
I saw it as part of the
recovery process to film.
It was really
important to me
that he didn't come
out the other end of it
and be like, why did
you sign that way,
why did you sign this way,
and not really understand.
[Woman] So we would go in
and raise up all
these loose edges
and free them up
so that they can
come together
and allow this hair
to shift to this area.
Okay, and you
think my eyebrows
are gonna be all like this?
[Woman] I hope not.
[Jennifer] Also for Ed,
filming actually kind of
gave him something to do.
See you later, I'm going to
get my head wound closed up.
I'm just kind of coming
out of anesthesia.
[Jennifer] You want
to look at me, Ed?
Very cool.
Ready Jennifer?
[Jennifer] I'm ready.
When you're in the hospital,
every day is the same.
Everything's getting better
but it's very slowly
getting better.
Is it video,
filming right now?
[Jennifer] Mm-hmm.
You close enough?
-[Jennifer] Yep.
-Are you sure?
I think you should
be closer.
Want to turn the light on more?
[Jennifer] No, I'm good.
You're good?
You sure?
[Jennifer] It
just gave a focus
on something other
than just the fact
that we're in a
freaking hospital.
Yes, I got it!
Nailed that sucker!
I've been trying that
for like 10 times.
[Boy]
I'll help you.
[Boy #2] God it's cold.
Hurry up.
I didn't have a dad
growing up.
There was really no one
looking over us saying,
"Don't do that or
don't do this."
It was really our
world to discover
and make our own mistakes
and learn from them.
I just remember that
they were both crazy
and having them both
together was chaos.
Yeah man, what's up with you?
Hey, bitch, come on.
Yeah, you think you're bad.
[Kathie] They had
a lot of energy.
I tried the best I could
to keep Eddie in line.
[Eduardo] I guess
my educational history
is kicked out of nine
different schools
starting with preschool,
disruptive behavior.
First grade was for
filling condoms with piss
and throwing them
down the hallway.
I started a fire in
the boy's bathroom
so I got kicked
out of that school.
[Eugenio] Got into a fight,
we kind of both got kicked
out in that situation
but I think he was
leading the charge.
Eugene, he was 11 years old,
never even thought about
not having a father
and he goes, "I need
to meet my father."
And she said, "Okay."
And within months,
it was literally that fast.
Where's dad and then
we're in Mexico.
All I knew is he was this
incredibly dark, tanned
pirate looking figure
that fished for
sharks and lobster
and lived this crazy
jungle lifestyle.
He was like a hero.
It was idyllic,
me and my twin
brother running around
just having a blast.
Hi, mom.
Hi, guys.
(mariachi music)
We decided to
get together again.
We went through a lot of
changes, a lot of changes,
and then me becoming
pregnant with Ellie
and integrating into a family.
[Eduardo] The first
time my dad's actually
gotten to make a snowball.
I don't know if he
expected himself
to play dad all of a sudden.
Hey, dad, no,
don't throw it!
Say hi.
Hi.
And we're gonna
go say hi to Eduardo
who's having lunch
and he does not know
that dad is here.
(speaking in Spanish)
It's a surprise.
He doesn't know you're here.
No (speaking in
Spanish).
[Eugenio] Whistle, whistle.
(whistling)
(speaking in Spanish)
Hey, how you doing?
How you doing?
Thank you, thank you to be here.
(speaking in Spanish)
[Eduardo] For many years,
he wasn't really my dad,
he was a friend.
[Manuel] Watch it,
don't break the line.
Don't break the line.
It's a big fish, wow.
It's big fish.
Ha ha!
[Eduardo] At 13,
I started using drugs
and then I started smoking
cigarettes with my dad
and doing drugs with my dad
and drinking with my dad
and he becomes my best friend
because he's not telling me no.
And I was already
hanging with a crew
that was tripping on
acid and doing coke
and everything else.
[Kathie] When Eduardo was 17,
he sat at the kitchen
table and he said,
"I realize that my habits
were hurting my family."
[Eduardo] So I'm tired of
living in the shadows of lies
and I just want to
level the field here
and me, Euge, Indra, dad,
we've been using drugs for
years behind your back, mom.
I mean, I was livid.
And I think for Eduardo
going straight was essential.
[Eduardo] I decided if I
want to make an impact in life,
I needed to get to business,
I need to get to work,
I need to be
purposeful in my life.
I had already been cooking in
restaurants since I was 15.
And then I decided
culinary school
was going to be where
I put all my energy
and through that,
I wanted to discover
my potential
on my own without substances.
[Announcer] Eduardo Garcia.
(audience applause)
[Eduardo] Danielle, you
want to see something cool?
Come here.
[Jennifer] Yeah,
this is pretty cool.
So, this is lefty,
you now lefty, Danielle?
[Danielle] Yeah.
I can feel all my
fingers still over there
even though they're not there.
That's my thumb moving,
this is my pinky moving.
Maybe I'll be able to
get a prosthetic limb
that has like some
kind of sensors.
I don't want the ones that are
supposed to look like hands.
I want like cool, custom made
like hardwood cherry hands
or oak or like titanium, I
don't know, something cool.
[Woman] Antler.
Fucking yeah,
antler, like bone,
kinda cool.
[Woman] That's awesome.
That is awesome.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Only time I was worried for him
was when he had
his chest operation
because they'd never done
anything like it before.
With the rib, you
can't just cut it off
and leave a hole in the chest.
What we have to do
is try to find ways
to cover that up.
[Jennifer] So we had
like the burn team,
the plastic surgeon team,
the cardiothoracic team,
everybody around the bed
just kind of
brainstorming essentially
what muscle they
could take from where.
[Doctor] Everything
that's dead.
-Gotta go.
-[Doctor] Gotta go, yeah.
That may leave you with a
hole on your chest this big.
Yes, sir.
[Doctor] Like kind of
stick my head in it kind of.
Yes, sir.
The likelihood of you
doing pull ups again is zero.
Pull ups again
-in a year?
-Ever, ever.
You're gonna have,
your lat's gonna be
turned around to here.
(knives scraping)
[Eduardo] I just wrapped
up a very successful year
as a yacht chef,
11 years of hard work.
My way of cooking as a
professional yacht chef
really became: get there,
figure out what's in the market,
what's local, what's in season
and then figure out
how to put it together.
Definitely developing as a chef.
You're going around the world.
There were all
kinds of adventures.
It kickstarted a time of life
where I was accountable
to myself only
and myself was interested in
letting loose a little bit.
So that is what
brought me into hey,
been six, seven years
since I've had a beer,
hmm, there's a drink being
passed around, yeah, why not?
I remember sitting on the
couch at the crew house
when Jen walked in
and where we connected
was she was game to have fun.
I wanted to go surf five
a.m. and be at work by eight.
Hand went up,
she's like, "I'm in."
[Jennifer] Most people just
wanted to go to the bars.
He was the only
person on the yacht
that liked to surf
and run and skateboard
and all the things I like to do.
And we started hanging out more.
And then we started dating.
[Eduardo] She was
keen to dance, to play,
to express, to live.
(laughing)
[Man] Ed's walking.
[Eduardo] I think I
felt a responsibility
to be tougher than
I should have been
because of how hard everyone
was working around me.
[Woman] Okay ready?
Turn around.
[Eduardo] There's gonna
be someone else out there
that has it worse than you do.
Just be grateful for
what you do have.
[Woman] Everything feel okay?
Yeah, I wish I could
use this sucker.
You can yeah.
Pretend.
Yeah.
[Eduardo] Gotta pretend
he's doing something.
That sucker has no
free rides, man.
Thanks.
[Nurse] You done?
No, I'm not done.
I'm just saying thanks.
I appreciate it.
[Nurse] No problem.
This is my new
typing attachment.
Gonna help me just
do some simple typing
until I get my prosthetic
in, kinda cool.
I never felt a fear for my life.
I felt anxiety about
everyday matters of life,
how I'd get back to life.
This is awesome.
That's great.
I think hiking is gonna be
some of the best
therapy I'll ever do.
(exhales)
You know, how am I
going to be me again?
Not to be funny but
this is my first stab
at working with a prosthetic
or any attachment on lefty.
Works.
And Jen invented,
show the camera, Jen .
Basically it's
this two foot fork
and one end's for scratching,
one end's for eating,
do not confuse the two.
Thank you.
Well done you.
I know it's kind
of weird for you.
Not just kind of weird,
very, very messed up
but well done you for hanging
in there 37 days with me
and not abandoning me
for some other whatever.
I wonder if I can just launch
this carrot at my face.
Oh, yeah.
[Jennifer] We had this
amazing relationship
but I had two minds,
part of me was telling me
that Eduardo was the
most amazing guy ever
and then the other part of
my brain was just telling me
that something was going on,
he was disingenuous.
He just said that
I was paranoid,
that I should shut up,
that all of his friends
thought I was a mean person
for even suggesting
such a thing.
[Eduardo] And I didn't
make the connection
that me cheating on
her would somehow
subconsciously speak to her.
And I don't remember
how I said it,
I remember sitting on the
port side of the yacht
and just spitting it out
like there was this time,
there was that time,
there was this time,
there was that time.
And then I was just
destroyed, I think,
because it wasn't this
kind of like one off thing
it was actually kind of
two years of complete lies.
He's been cheating
on me basically
for most of our relationship,
that just hurt.
[Eduardo] It was a recurrence
of that same time when I was 17
like shit, how have my
actions become actions
that are hurting people,
not who I want to be in life.
It was time to clean up my act.
I came home for seven months,
no drugs, no alcohol, just a
lot of time in the outdoors,
a lot of time working.
I was so depressed,
so physically ill.
I had this cabin in Montana
that was really rough
and I remember fixing
up the interior
with a goal that maybe
Jen'll come back to Montana,
no expectations,
I don't need you to get
back together with me.
[Jennifer] Despite everything,
you love who you love
and I wanted
to be there for him
and help him get
through everything.
[Eduardo] It
was the first time
her and I had been in the
same space clean and clear.
[Jennifer] He was
definitely trying to show me
that he was somebody that
now did actually care.
So when I have my
ridiculous photo ideas
he was up for that.
[Eduardo] When we start
talking about something
and we're both into it,
it's unstoppable
the amount of ideas
that come out.
I left my full time career as
a yacht chef after a decade
and I was ready for
a career change.
Together with Jen,
my brother, my sister,
we started a food company
called Montana Mex.
[Jennifer] And on top of that,
we started planning
for Eduardo to have a
outdoor cooking show.
Rolling.
[Jennifer] We're just
on a rampage of creativity
and it was super fun.
[Eduardo] That's when
I got to know Jen ,
like the business part of Jen ,
the intellectual part of Jen ,
the creative part of Jen ,
the challenging parts of Jen.
Look how big our ducks are.
That was the beginning of
our friendship for sure.
And I put this on it
because otherwise
when I'm in bed
it will just keep me up.
You've been doing it
that same way every night?
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
I don't know, I don't feel
like I need to sleep in
a real bed at all really,
it's fine.
It was a very bizarre situation
'cause you're trying
to care for somebody
who is going through
the pit of hell
but at the same time,
I also had all these things
from obviously the relationship
that Ed and I had previously.
Did you make it?
No, it was so close.
It landed right side up.
Try it again, try it again.
Ugh, that's even worse.
Obviously annoys me at times
but I love him,
I've loved him a long time.
I will always love him.
[Man] Please breathe
in and hold your breath.
Start breathing again.
[Amalia Cochran] The testicle
that had been damaged
from the electrical
injury was not viable
and there was no way for
us to help it survive.
So that's discussion number
one that we're having
with a young healthy guy
and his family
about it is our recommendation
that we do this.
[Jennifer] For
whatever reason,
he chose me to be the signer.
Especially because of
the cheating thing,
it's like almost hilarious
this sense that the ex
girlfriend that was cheated on
got to sign away his testicle.
[Doctor] Your charts look good,
your blood looks good,
you kind of went through
the basic and then
but we got some bad news.
The pathology report pops up
and low and behold there's
a testicular cancer.
[Eduardo] Are you kidding me?
My focus right now is figuring
out how to be an amputee,
other surgeries
that are ongoing,
picking myself up out of
the ground for the most part
and on top of that you're
asking me to deal with cancer?
[Jennifer] And that's
when they realized
it was second stage
because he had a tumor
halfway up his spine as well.
[Eduardo] Any chance to
see that tumor clot on my?
[Man] Yeah.
That's big, man.
[Jennifer] Basically
they couldn't do all the
reconstructive surgeries
because he needed to get
not chemotherapy immediately
before it went to his brain.
So...
I forgot one.
It just became my
norm being in ICU,
you know what I mean?
It became my norm.
[Jennifer] How do you feel?
Mechanical.
[Jennifer] But in a cool way?
Yeah, I think so.
I think I was actually terrified
to leave the hospital.
The doctors in the burn unit
decided I was healthy
enough to go home
or leave the hospital today.
So we packed up our stuff
and put it in the truck.
Pretty amazing that
we're out of here,
pretty fucking
glad I didn't die.
I don't have my left hand.
But otherwise we're
in really great shape,
really great shape.
I think I got over there
two or three days
after he was discharged
and I worried about them both.
Although they were
pulling together,
there was an atmosphere
because they were
both so exhausted,
both so exhausted.
(laughing)
We didn't know what
to do for Christmas
and I think I'll
never, ever forget
the fact that we decided to
go to Arches National Park
and it was just unbelievable
when I could see Ed's face
thinking that even he had said
he never thought
that would happen.
(laughing)
[Eduardo] What's
happening now?
Let's check it out,
let's check it out.
Just stay shoulders right
over your feet, okay?
Yeah, you're good,
it's no problem.
Look at Jen and your feet.
[Corinne] Then they got
me across this high thing
that was so steep I didn't
think I'd get across
but he said,
"No, you're scared,
"we'll get you across this."
[Eduardo] Take it like that,
two, three steps
at a time, pause,
two, three, don't think
of it as a big wall,
okay, very good, very good.
You did great.
That was, this is
just fear, isn't it?
He'd survived,
nothing else, the fact
that he'd survived through
in a wonderful place.
[Eduardo] She's insane, huh?
Ed was, even at
that very short space
that he'd been out
of hospital,
no one would guess that
he was going through
what he was going through.
[Eduardo] I don't remember
the day I arrived home.
It must have been
momentous in that sense
but I don't remember
walking in
to my house
for the first time
and opening the door.
What I remember was
wanting to hide,
I don't even know why.
Locally I live in
a small community.
They knew I had
been electrocuted.
You couldn't hide that
I was missing a hand
but you know what,
I could hide the fact
that I was going through cancer.
Today is February the seventh
and it's official,
my hair is falling out.
Bucket.
You see that?
Bink, how disgusting.
Bink, bink, oh my.
Jen, do you want to try this?
You might enjoy it.
[Jennifer] I will.
Holy, look at that.
[Jennifer] I can
make a bald patch.
Hey, baby, do it
systematically.
[Jennifer] I'm
turning you into my dad.
Look at you.
[Jennifer] This
is just like my dad.
Does it not hurt at all?
This is excellent fun.
No, if it hurt,
I would ask you to stop.
It hurts a little.
Grab a clump and
just go for it but.
Pink.
It's literally
like having a cat.
You've always wanted a cat.
(slow music)
(laughing)
(dramatic music)
[Jennifer] How are you doing?
I'm hanging in there.
It's been a long week.
Pretty nauseous almost
every day this week
but we're hanging in there.
I'm getting my pick
line taken out today
so it'll be nice.
[Jennifer] Happy?
Yeah, thanks.
[Nurse] You're welcome.
Back on Monday,
Monday at noon.
[Jennifer] When he was
going through everything
the priority was get
him rehabilitated
and get him back to life.
But further down the list
is what is the deal with
our relationship as a whole?
How are we gonna get
out of this as friends?
What's gonna happen
in the future?
(hens crowing)
The doubt didn't start
until I tried actually
getting back to life again.
All of a sudden overnight
at 30 years old,
I had to rethink how to do
every single task.
Ashes is one of my favorite
place to hike anywhere.
You now had my mom, Jen , my
sister, my brother, my dad,
take a bear spray,
don't hike alone.
Really concerned
about my ability
to be the guy I was
a few months before.
[Jennifer] Ed losing his hand
is really something
that everybody sees
but not many people know
that he also lost so
much of his muscle mass
from his torso, from
his legs, from his arms.
The fact is that he operates
with way less muscle
than most of us do.
[Eduardo] It's such a
horrible thing, you know,
to have someone care for you
and for you to
think, "Hey back off,
I need a moment to see
if I can do this again.
Give me a second
to fail on my own."
[Jennifer] I think what a
lot of people see with recovery
is this grand coming
out of oh I'm recovered
and actually it isn't that.
It's this kind of
never-ending process
of a million little
achievements.
Undoing these knots
is definitely proving to
be a little more difficult
but I don't think undoing knots
is ever easy for anybody.
There it goes.
That's a deer.
I love to hike for elk antlers
and my goal was I want
to be able to hike
a solid eight miles
into the back country
and feel strong about it.
Being outdoors was
my recovery, 110%
and that was where I,
it was my way
of rehabilitating.
That's a heavy pack.
I would get home at 5 p.m.
and there'd be a race.
If I couldn't get a meal
under my belt by six,
I would be too sick
to cook a meal,
I would lose all interest.
I guess as a bonus,
I don't have to worry
about cutting the fingers
off of my left hand
anymore when I'm chopping.
I'd be pretty crushed if
I couldn't cook anymore,
be pretty crushed.
It was only until
I actually started
getting back into
trying to cook again
that it all started to click.
I'm like, "Wait a minute,
my career is built off of
the ability to work quickly,
efficiently with my hands.
Fuck, I got one
hand and a forearm."
That's hot.
We knew that my
chemotherapy treatments
would be a three-month ordeal
and we just had to survive that
and the day it ended my
focus immediately shifted
to, "Okay, let's get back
to recovery.
We've got a long
list of things
that still need
to be healed."
[Jennifer] Do you want
to describe what was here
when you were electrocuted?
Not a big box with
working locks on it.
I'd have probably stumbled
straight down here.
Let's see if it goes
to a road.
[Jennifer] Yeah,
you want to follow it?
-Yeah.
-[Jennifer] Okay.
I don't know if I saw
some of these trees.
Incredible, I can't remember.
I didn't like being up there
standing next to that box.
It was hard.
Trying not to feel anger
through this whole event
and then you go back to the
site where you nearly died
and you're looking at it
and it's...
locked up,
posted, sealed,
huge padlocks,
shut down, safe.
That's how it should've been
when I was up here hiking.
That's how it should've been.
It angered me to see that.
One tiny event can
rock you so hard.
I didn't feel a need to
stay there for too long,
it turned me.
Hello.
(speaking in Spanish)
Dad, you're here
early though, man.
[Manuel] Huh?
(speaking in Spanish)
I was totally joking with dad
but I guess he's here to work.
That's harder.
Isn't that weird?
You see the circulation
missing in that finger?
It just gets,
they get cold.
I think there's nerve
damage or something.
The scar's healing nicely.
Yeah.
I'm glad it's
got nice and flat.
Try to open it up a little bit.
That's better,
you got some blood to it now.
Good job, Indra.
Yeah.
[Jennifer] When we
were in the hospital,
Indra and I,
we'd like shamelessly get
out all of our paperwork
and we'd be running our company.
Let's make sure
that our company
doesn't go completely under.
We've got stuff to do,
we've got stuff that
needs to happen,
we have things that need to
not be lost because of this.
[Eduardo] That will come off.
[Man] There you go.
[Eduardo] That's pretty cool.
[Man] So how you
gonna trigger it?
Just bring it up.
Oh, just click
it on your cheek.
Oh, there you go.
Yeah.
Alright.
There was one
online for 1,100 bucks
and I figured
we could make one
so it's like I'm $33
into it right now.
And exactly,
and Montana style.
I mean, I think we could tweak
it maybe a little more but,
You got this?
Jesus.
Alright, step one.
[Eduardo] I like it.
Super lightweight, super
strong, it's cleanable.
It's just a--
You guys are doing
this right here?
This is what we're
about to build?
Yeah.
That's so neat.
What's going on?
(whirring)
(hammering)
It's pretty just phenomenal
to be able to sit in
this shop all day long,
make these little changes
almost immediately,
go back and forth,
go back and forth
without having to ship a
product back to the maker
and then get it a week later,
that kind of a process.
That was quick.
I'm ready to take it off.
Yeah, let's do this.
That's it, destruction,
it did well, that thing,
that thing's done well.
It's pretty cool.
I think I'm gonna have a
hard time beating this up.
It'll be like a new surf board.
Once you get the first
ding the it'll be alright
but until then, polish it off
at the end of every night.
Crank down.
Crank it down so
you can really just--
Do a pull up.
Yeah, and that's kind of
when it's gonna be necessary.
[Woman] Nice, wow, fantastic.
Good work.
That's a start.
The guy before the injury,
very confident about
where I was in life
to overnight being a guy
with one hand instead of two,
holes in my ribcage,
cancer also on top of that.
A year worth of
surgeries in front of me,
no idea what my long term
capacities were gonna be,
and no idea if I
could even go back
to the career that I'd
worked since I was 15 on.
There you go.
See if you come over here, Sam,
see it's almost like the
snow kept it from freezing
on top of something.
Except for the one thing,
never doubting
that I would live.
The second my eyes opened
on that forest floor
and I had a heartbeat,
I'm gonna get myself
out of here
and I'm gonna get myself
back to that, back to life.
[Jennifer] How
you doing today, Ed?
I'm good.
I'm about to fly
out to New Mexico
for this catering gig
so getting my knives sharpened,
feeling a little time
crunched right now.
I was just looking around
and it's pretty awesome place
to be sharpening your knives,
out in your front yard.
I like it.
So marinade for the?
Yeah, dry, dry rub.
Ranga and I are doing
a little at home testing
for this catering gig.
It's quite a big function.
It's over the course
of a week, 150 people.
Working with guests
and what are people gonna
think about the crazy hand
and I like the way
this one looks.
I feel more confident
with it, that's for sure.
I haven't put one of
these on in almost a year.
That's the longest
time I've ever gone
without putting one of
these on since I was 15.
(upbeat music)
Firing it up.
Ranga, these
hors d'oeuvres can go.
Guys how far are you
on having a single platter done?
Guess.
Two minutes?
-Uh, three.
-Let's go.
(upbeat music)
Summer squash salad,
thank you.
Put that with the vinaigrette,
feel free to splash some
shrimp, send it out.
Thank you.
Hold up, they're calling me.
It's Jen , I'm a little busy.
That's perfect, get it in.
Awesome.
Ah.
Nice work, Jeff.
[Jeff] You're
working too hard.
It's August 4th,
it's my birthday,
I turn 31 today.
I didn't die this last fall.
I've been thinking about
that yesterday and today.
I could not be here.
It could've been game
over but it wasn't.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Eduardo
Happy birthday to you
(clapping)
Thanks, guys.
(yelling)
Thank you.
[Woman] Have you had
any surgeries or anything
since we last saw you?
No.
[Woman] Okay.
[Eduardo] I have a
check up every six months.
I don't know if I'm gonna
get good or bad news.
[Woman] Take a deep
breath in and hold it.
I'm happy to say that
today I'm cancer free,
I'm a survivor
and I don't know what is gonna
happen six months from now
and that's always
on my mind a little
but I'm not gonna let
that take control of me.
Haven't used you since
Costa Rica, have we?
You're gonna be a mess.
University of Utah Burn
Center, Eduardo Garcia,
"Bethany Hamilton
surfboard handle kit.
"The kit and this handle
"has enabled her to control
her board underwater
"with only hand
while duck diving."
I'm not gonna think for
the people around me.
I'm not gonna wonder if
they think I look weird
or "Oh my God, that guy's got
a fucking hole in his head."
It's like an experience
like this teaches you
to be incredibly happy
with who you are,
no matter what
you're going through.
And for that,
I'm grateful.
(happy music)
I want to jump right into it
and them I'm hurting myself.
I think if I hurt myself,
there'd be a lot of people
pretty angry at me.
(upbeat music)
Well, hopefully we'll do
it again, that's for sure.
Half experimental, half
"How do I do this safely?"
There's a bull right down here
probably in this pocket.
(upbeat music)
There's two bulls
sparring over there.
(bulls yelping)
Love that.
(upbeat music)
[Katie Couric] Eduardo Garcia
was leading a life
most people only dream of
but when he returned
home to Montana,
his life changed forever.
Please welcome the man
known as the bionic chef,
Eduardo Garcia.
(audience applause)
Please welcome
chef Eduardo Garcia.
Our chef Eduardo Garcia, thank
you so much for joining us.
(speaking in Spanish)
(audience applause)
Wow, you're so handsome.
Oh, Katie.
How do you, tell us,
does this allow you to,
obviously it allows you to
do everything you need to do?
I mean I got a walnut
crusher down here.
Did it come like that,
that walnut crusher?
Did that come like that?
Custom.
[Man] Custom crusher.
And if you have to like
grab an apple or something,
you just go phew?
Whacha!
That's so funny.
So you've traveled a
lot around the world.
What would you say was the most
beautiful place you'd been?
Montana.
Montana, well that's
where you live now?
That's why I live there.
Getting there.
We are getting there.
[Jennifer] Hello.
-(chicken clucking)
-(rooster crowing)
Although Eduardo and I
aren't in a romantic
relationship anymore,
we have one of the strongest
relationships I've known.
Beyond there's Bing.
What are you doing
in there Bing?
[Jennifer] I feel right now
that Ed and I are best friends
and that's kind of the
way it should be, I think,
for us both to be
who we want to be.
In the moment sitting
there in the hospital,
I didn't realize
how severe it was
and I obviously
didn't realize
how impactful it was
on you or my family
or even myself until now
three and a half years later
and you and I are
trying to get on
with our businesses
and our projects,
trying to get on
with our friendship,
with our relationship,
and realizing how
much personal growth,
how much pain,
how much struggle,
everybody experienced and
how much was put on hold
just so that
the focus could be
on Ed getting
through recovery,
Ed getting through surgery.
It takes people like
years and years and years
to like get out
of where they are.
Then suddenly you're on TV
just like oh yeah,
I happen to have this hook,
it's no big deal
and nobody sees that
coming back home.
Sometimes I'm not in the mood.
I actually don't want
to deal with this.
I don't want to have
to explain...
any of it.
[Eduardo] I think I
knew the pain that I felt
not having a dad
has stuck with me
my whole life.
You know, like I made
peace with my dad
and I have the opportunity
of a lifetime right now.
I get to see his mistakes
and I get to apply
those to my life.
If you had to say
who you were,
how do you describe
Manuel at 19?
(speaking in Spanish)
Where were you in your
level of skill as a fisherman?
Not Mexico,
round trip ticket anywhere
in the world right now.
Cancun.
No, besides Cancun.
Nowhere in Mexico,
where would you go?
Nowhere.
Right here.
-Empanadas?
-Empanadas.
Do you have any regrets,
things you would do different?
[Kathie] How is the
person that you are today
different than the person
that you were before?
We made it.
That was good, dad.
It's strange being like
early 30s, no kids,
to think having a pet
is the first,
it's like a starter kit,
it's that first step
to having some type
of responsibility
or some type of thing
that depends on you
at least a little bit.
I think it was the best thing
Jen and I've done in years
was get this cat.
[Jennifer] Run along, Bing.
-Did you get that catnip?
-[Jennifer] Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
[Jennifer] Oh, she
likes it with you.
That's 'cause I crushed it,
I got the oils going.
Right, Bings?
Yesterday you were saying
how you feel
that you can't identify
right now with yourself.
Well, to be in a relationship
is the immediate opportunity
to hurt someone else, right?
Or to make their life amazing.
-Or to make their life--
-That's the point of it.
But I'm aware of that.
You're such a pain, man.
I'm trying to reconvince myself
that I am capable of being in
a relationship with someone
without fucking them over.
You know, if it's somebody
who's really supportive
of you and awesome,
it might actually
make it a bit easier
'cause then you
know that you have--
That's funny, that was you.
Well, yeah.
Yeah, well, hmmph, true.
My hope is that you and I
continue to be better friends
than others can really
hope to understand.
You know how
impactful you've been,
you know that I can't,
I cannot pay you back
nor can I validate what
you've done for me, like ever.
[Jennifer] I know.
At some point, I realized that
he didn't need me anymore.
I didn't need to be there
100% of the time
and the caregiver.
I chose to put my life on hold
but I've still been
wanting to do things for me
and one of those things
has been wanting to
do stand up comedy.
Honestly, I think
the stand up thing
came from not being heard.
I'm very confident that
I'm gonna struggle a lot
just to speak clearly,
just to not be so nervous
in a room full of people
that are looking at you.
[Eduardo] I'm proud
of us for surviving.
I have an undending amount
of gratitude for Jen .
Do what you need to do,
be who you want to be
and tell me how I
can support you.
My role, I'm a friend, I care.
[Announcer] We've got
two first timers tonight.
Jen.
(happy music)
So, I'm on Tinder...
The favorite parts
are what we'll keep
Ornamental parts of
love and parts of memories
So everything else
has room to grow
'Cause in better light,
everything changes
No, I don't think Ed owes me.
I think we did
pretty well together.
What we've experienced and what
we've been through together
forms a friendship
which is pretty epic.
There's no race,
there's only a runner
Just keep one foot
in front of the other
There's no race,
there's only a runner
One, two, three,
and then you get tired
Just keep one foot
in front of the other
There's no race,
no ending in sight
No second too short,
no window too tight
Turn off the
lights when you leave
'Cause we've got
everything we're gonna need
We're on the run, we're
on the run, we're on the run
Tell our story
We made something of ourselves
One day, tell our story
We made something, we
made something of ourselves.
Okay.
[Eduardo] That is one
of the most unique ones
we've ever picked.
Whoa.
She knows something's funny.
I wonder if she's picking up on,
this is all Jen's stuff.
Hey, come here.
Don't you worry,
Jen is moving out.
She'll come back to us,
Bing, don't you worry.
Don't you worry.
She's moving out but
she is not leaving.
I told her that you're moving
out but you're not leaving.
[Jennifer] Is he okay?
Look at Bing.
Bing was trying to
hide in the mattress
so she could go with you.
[Jennifer] Of course she was.
That's okay.
(singing in Spanish)
(speaking in Spanish)
I know.
I know.
[Eduardo] I would say that
my greatest struggle every day
is just being true
to who I want to be.
My strength has always been
working within the physical.
The emotional challenges,
I'm finding way harder.
A friend of mine recommended
I check out a group
called the Challenged
Athletes Foundation.
Good to see you, man.
You too.
At my first CAF event,
a lower arm amputee
stepped right up to me,
pointed and said,
"Hey, are you running
"with your prosthetic on?"
And that was the first
time I can remember
really being in public
with my nude forearm
without trying to hide it.
There was no denying it,
it was like boom,
that's your amputation.
That was my "ah-ha" moment.
I am an amputee,
I am missing my left hand.
It is a part of who I am
and it doesn't define me,
I'm not Eduardo
Garcia, the amputee,
I'm just Eduardo.
[Starter]
Swimmers set...
(horn blows)
In my every day life,
I don't have any other amputees
that are in my
close friend group
or in my community
that I know of
that I can bounce
my successes,
my losses,
my hard times off of.
We inspire and
motivate each other
by watching what
we're capable of.
It's incredible.
Disabilities like
what happened to Eduardo
in a way is like
being born again
'cause your life gets
flipped upside down
and you start over
whether you want
to admit it or not
it's flipped upside down.
[Eduardo] Scoot back a little.
Okay.
[Willie] You ultimately, you
gotta find who you are again.
[Eduardo] That was so cool,
I watched you catch
that first wave in.
That was awesome.
That was awesome.
Up and over.
I've never tried surfing
without my prosthetic on
so that's gonna be a first.
I know it's kind of just,
it's a safe zone to discover
and really be super
vulnerable and super open
and grow together.
I truly feel
this urgent need
to say thanks at large
like that asshole kid
that was so selfish
and focused on my own stuff,
I almost feel guilty
that I got so much given to me.
I wouldn't be here if
it wasn't for others
so my life moving forward
needs to be in some
dedication to others.
I've inflicted a lot
of pain in my life.
I've been a class A
beep, I have, I have.
I have been so many
times in my life
just focused on what I want.
I think I've always
been a driven person,
I think I've always
had more energy
than anyone knew
what to do with.
You get kicked out of
nine schools, I mean,
but I think this experience
it did a couple of things.
It fortified my interest in
making every moment count
and it also encouraged me
that this is a life
worth living
and it's a life worth living
really, really, really well.
I mean, I have bad days, for
sure, this sucks, it does,
but I'm not gonna live in that.
My choice is I'd
rather wake up and say,
"Hey, I'm gonna put a
stainless steel plate
"on the bottom of that
and now I've got a hammer."
The curiosity that maybe
got me electrocuted
"Oh, what's that?
It's a dead bear,
that's kind of
weird looking." (buzzing)
Maybe that curiosity is
what pushes me through.
I'm fortunate to
just still be alive
but it's those mistakes
that you make,
you learn from 'em,
I'm not touching any more bears.
But it doesn't mean I'm
not lifting up twigs
and looking for things
and seeing where
opportunity lies.
Here's the thing
is caregivers kind of get
the blind sight, right,
like I had the People
magazine write up
and I was on Good
Morning America
and I got flown to New York
and there's been a
lot of publicity on me
and absolutely zero on every
single person that helped me
and without them,
I wouldn't have made
it through that.
So I would encourage,
if you're out there right now
and you're helping
your best friend,
your little brother or sister,
your mom, your dad, whoever,
to get through a hard time
and you feel like all
the attention's on them,
they can't do it without you
and without your support.
So I want any number of people
to join me right here,
grab my left hand,
grab my right hand,
join it up with that corner,
join it up with that corner
and I want to see if this
entire room in the next minute
can connect hands, go.
Everybody find your pulse.
That pulse is now going
through every single one of us.
We are connected.
[Man] Thanks.
Yeah man, 100%, you too.
You can just like
hold on to it like.
Just listening to your
story about troubles in school
is just very inspiring for me
because everything
that you've said
I could kind of relate to.
Thanks for coming out.
My brother was in the ICU
about the same time as you.
He got hit with a
firework and was burned,
he's seven but it's been tough.
How's he doing?
He's doing really good.
Nice.
Sounds like you've been
there for him though?
Yeah.
That's awesome, man.
That's the stuff.
(upbeat music)
I left this parking lot four
years ago today at 10:30.
You look at my experiences
leading into this injury,
maybe I'm doing myself no favors
by just continuing
to push through
and not stopping to
take a full appraisal
of why I am the way I am
and how much it means to change.
Everyone that has encouraged
me and supported me
and forgiven me and
held me accountable
has brought me to today
and how I make my
life moving forward.
You're damn right
I would go back.
Funny last time I
was here with Jen
I couldn't even stand here.
I was so pissed, man.
I was so pissed.
It feels like a long time ago.
It feels like more
than four years ago.
It feels like a lifetime ago.
You know what I'm saying?
(dramatic music)
All my fears are running wild
Dragging me mile after mile
Think it's time
I take the reigns
Playing a hero for a change
'Cause I'm stronger,
I'm stronger than my
Fears
Over fields of doubt I march
Fighting hard
to frame my heart
Still I hear
my old fears call
Who are you
to stand so tall
Well I'm stronger,
I'm stronger than my
Fears
Hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey
Every day
we have a choice
Fear has nothing
but a voice
It may whisper,
it may scream
Well I'm no longer listening
'Cause I'm stronger,
I'm stronger than my
Fears.