Hawaii surfer Sunny Garcia has surgery, remains on life support in Oregon hospital
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former world champion surfer Sunny Garcia had surgery Thursday at a hospital in Portland, Ore., according to daughter Kailia Garcia.
Sunny Garcia remains in critical condition but is doing OK after “rough” surgery Thursday in Portland, Ore., according to his daughter.
Kailia Garcia posted on Instagram Thursday afternoon, “My dad @sunnygarcia is out of surgery. I’ll start by saying he’s ok and he’s doing good … Surgery was kind of rough but he made it.”
She clarified in a subsequent post that a new feeding tube was not inserted as planned because of complications “so dad @sunnygarcia still has a feeding tube in his nose.”
Earlier in the day, she said on his GoFundMe page, “Good morning! 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.”
In addition, she wrote that Sunny is still in the intensive care unit in critical condition, and for the first time confirmed that he is on life support.
On the GoFundMe page, Kaila thanked people for their donations, which are up to $84,564 out of a $150,000 goal as of Thursday, which is about $54,000 more than a week ago.
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“My family and I would like to thank everyone for your prayers! It’s so awesome to see how many people care and love my dad. 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. 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 #PrayForSunny #ILOVEYOUDAD”
A former world champion surfer, Garcia has been in critical condition since April 29, when he was found unconscious. No details have been confirmed about the circumstances leading to his hospitalization, but some media outlets reported that it was an attempted suicide.
The procedure Garcia was scheduled to have Thursday is a combined tracheostomy and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy — or Trach/PEG for short.
