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Son surprises Seahawks-loving dad with NFC championship game tickets
A Seattle son surprised his dad with tickets to the NFC championship game at Lumen Field, a moment made even more emotional after the father’s recent recovery from a stroke.
SEATTLE - A son surprised his Seattle dad, a big Seahawks fan, with tickets to the NFC championship game at Lumen Field and recorded the entire journey. The emotional video shows the dad break down in tears and has captured the hearts of people across the country.
FOX 13 talked to the son, Irvin Garcia, who said that moment was made even more special because just a few months ago, they weren’t sure if his dad would be able to walk again.
What they're saying:
"I recorded the process of driving up to Seattle and then taking him over to a restaurant bar, and kind of making him think that he that's where we were going to watch the game," Garcia said.
His dad didn’t know about the game until they were in front of Lumen Field.
The video received 1.8M likes on Instagram.
"It was a lot of emotions," Garcia said. "It brings me a lot of joy to see him excited for this, we’ve been going through a lot these past couple months."
The backstory:
In October, Garcia’s dad had a stroke. "Events like that are something that show you how quickly life can change and how quickly life can be taken away from us," Garcia said.
Without insurance, the UCLA medical student stepped in to help his dad get the physical therapy he needed.
"We would do a lot of exercises outside, including throwing a football, and so that was more like a fun way to have our therapy," Garcia said. "Ultimately, he regained a lot of his function back."
All those emotions surfaced at that moment and hit him at once. "He really took it all in and thought to himself, you know, a couple of months ago, I was in a hospital just a couple blocks from here, not knowing if I’ll ever be able to walk again. and here he is at, you know, the biggest game of the years to that point," Garcia said.
Garcia told FOX 13, the Seahawks have been their team for years, and he wanted to do something special for his dad after his stroke.
"He's worked his entire life and his life has always revolved around working and always revolved around his children and, including myself, and never so much about him," Garcia said.
Then, the Seahawks won. People who have seen the video are now calling on the organization to send them to the Super Bowl. No word yet, but the NFL did share Garcia’s video and the Seahawks commented on it calling it "awesome."
Garcia told FOX 13, that his dad is thankful for all the support they’ve received, and the positive comments left online.
"I think you know, the biggest message with all this is to, you know, cherish your loved ones," Garcia said.
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