LSU cheerleading coach Chico Garcia was paralyzed Saturday in a boating accident on the Diversion Canal in St. Amant, La.
Jason Amadeo, a former LSU cheerleader and long-time friend of Garcia’s, said Garcia severely dislocated two vertebrae and was unable to move anything from the shoulders down after the accident.
Amadeo said Garcia had surgery to realign the vertebrae and has started to regain feeling in his upper arm, but is still unable to move it.
“The type of injury he had could have severed the spinal cord completely, leaving him with no function below the neck permanently,” Amadeo said. “When they assessed the cord, it did appear to be intact. Now it’s just kind of a wait and see game and allow the swelling to go down to see what, if any, he months.”
 
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