Sunny Garcia, a power-surfing legend and one of the most enjoyable surfers ever to watch attack a wave, is going into surgery today to have a breathing and feeding tube replaced, according to his daughter, Kaila Garcia. As we’ve reported over the last several weeks, Garcia has been in the ICU of a Portland, Oregon-area hospital after an alleged suicide attempt in the Pacific Northwest at the end of April. It’s been a heavy couple of weeks for the surfing community.
“Good morning,” Kaila wrote on her Instagram page. “My dad @sunnygarcia is headed to surgery right now as I type this. He is getting a Trach/PEG done which has pretty much been explained to me as just a more comfortable breathing/food tube put in. His vitals are awesome right now and the Doctors expect everything to go very smooth. I just wanted to ask for everyone’s prayers as my dad heads to surgery💙 Lord please be with my dad during surgery. Please keep him safe, let him feel no pain, and bring peace to his mind body and soul AMEN. I LOVE YOU DAD💙 #PrayForSunny”
A GoFundMe page was set up for Sunny’s family to pay for travel and living expenses as the 2000 world champ tries to recover. The response has been impressive. In ten days the campaign raised $84,000 of a $150,000 goal, with surfers like Tom Carroll and Keala Kennelly donating as well as skater Ryan Sheckler. GoFundMe even gave $500 to the cause as did the Eddie Aikau Foundation. Despite still being on life support, Sunny has shown positive signs over the last few weeks like being able to breathe on his own.
“My dad is a fighter and is surprising doctors doing things they said he wouldn’t ALL THANKS TO GOD and all of your prayers,” Kaila wrote a few days ago. “He is still in the ICU and very critical and still on life support. We’d like to thank everyone for the support you have shown for the past few weeks. Please continue to pray for my dad as he is fighting the biggest fight of his life 🙏🏻 We are putting this in Gods hands and we will continue to pray for a miracle.”
You can donate to the GoFundMe page here.
