Former University of South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia likely has his wife Masha’s curiosity to thank for saving his life.
“I had some sporadic stomach pain,” Stephen, 38, told Craig Melvin during a Monday, September 14, appearance on the Today show. “I was going to the bathroom often. Just wasn’t ever fully emptied.”
Stephen said his frequent trips got “to the point where my wife was like, ‘What are you doing in the bathroom?’”
After Masha urged her husband to get screened, Stephen was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer.
“It was definitely a shock,” Stephen recalled of how he felt after receiving the news. “But I think it was just like, ‘What’s next?’ I wasn’t going to sit there and be like, ‘Well, I guess I’m dead.’ It’s like, what are we going to do? What’s the game plan? How are we going to beat this thing?”
Masha remembered telling her husband he “had to fight” to stay alive before immediately becoming proactive once again.
“I was like, ‘I need to figure out a solution,’” she said. “So I grabbed his phone, ran out the door and called his doctor to get everything in order.”
Stephen added, “She probably did save my life.”
Stephen, who played for the Gamecocks from 2008 to 2011, has shared every step of his cancer journey with his tens of thousands of followers on social media.
“He’s brave being this open with his diagnosis,” Masha said. “Men do it in silence. They don’t want to talk about it, no one wants to talk about it. He was just so open.”
Stephen said the overwhelming response to his diagnosis has been “kind of shocking.”
“The fact that fans still care means a lot,” he acknowledged. “I hope they truly understand that. It means the world to me.”
After Stephen went public with his cancer diagnosis in May, a GoFundMe was launched in his honor, which has since raised over $250,000.
“We are navigating a very difficult time,” the fundraiser reads. “Every message of support and every contribution serves as a reminder to Stephen that he is not in this alone. We are incredibly grateful for the village helping him fight this battle.”
The GoFundMe also urged Stephen’s supporters to be similarly vigilant about their own health.
“Colorectal cancer is often silent in its early stages,” the page explains. “We cannot stress enough how important it is to prioritize regular screenings and colonoscopies. These preventative measures are life-saving tools that can catch issues before they progress. If Stephen’s story can encourage even one person to schedule their screening, it adds a greater purpose to this difficult fight.”
