Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story Page #6

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 f***ing 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

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