Eduardo Garcia (American chef)

Early life

Eduardo Garcia was born in 1981, the son of a Mexican fisherman and chef father and an astrologer, Montessori Teacher and author mother. He grew up in Bozeman, Montana. Part-time job choices there are limited, so Garcia elected to work on the Chico Hot Springs ranch as a prep chef. After high school, Garcia went to college at The Art Institute of Seattle. During college, he worked at a Japanese cafe called Saitos.

Early career

While in college, Garcia was offered a job as chef of a 107-foot yacht called Dorothea. He accepted and, upon graduation, spent two and half years aboard the ship. From there, he spent the next decade working as a chef on various private yachts. His job allowed him to travel the world, learning about different ethnic cuisines along the way.

Garcia co-founded Montana Mex, a Mexican-inspired line of flavored salts, salsas and hot sauces, upon returning to Montana in 2010. He also began creating a cooking show to be called Active Ingredient. Garcia describes his food as fun, simple, exploratory, and always influenced by the local environment.

Hiking accident

On October 9, 2011, while bow-hunting elk in the Montana backcountry, Garcia came across a motionless bear cub. Nudging the animal with his knife, he received a severe electrical shock from a 2400-volt power line hidden underneath its carcass. He was knocked to the ground and severely burned. He remembers telling himself to get up, but after that his memory is incomplete - the next thing he remembers is walking on a road a mile away from the accident spot. By the time he found help, Garcia had walked three miles.

Garcia was air-lifted to the hospital where he spent 48 days in intensive care. After five days and facing a severe infection, the decision was made to amputate his left hand and forearm. He lost four ribs, several torso muscles, and 10 inches of his left forearm, as well as his left hand. "I was scared," he later recalled, "but I was set on learning how to survive". While in the hospital, Garcia was also diagnosed with stage two testicular cancer. The cancer required him to put his surgeries on hold to undergo three months of chemotherapy. He recalls, "I had to get through [the cancer] to get back to business, which was surgery and recovery of self."

Career since accident

Garcia was fitted with a simple prosthetic hook. Five days after being released from the hospital, he returned to the kitchen to cook a meal for some friends. Although he is right-handed, Garcia quickly found that he could not do everything he could before, but continued to work as a chef. He slowly re-learned basic tasks like chopping and dicing.

In September 2013, Garcia was fitted with a bionic hand designed by Touch Bionics and fitted by Advanced Arm Dynamics. The new hand is controlled by Garcia's forearm muscles and is capable of gripping 25 different ways. It allows him to perform tasks requiring a great deal of manual dexterity. His new arm still has limitations. For example, Garcia cannot lift heavy weights with it. Even so, he says the accident actually helped his career as a chef. "I've got superpowers," he explained. "I can grab things out of an oven and not get burnt. I don’t cut my fingers anymore." Additionally, the accident made him a more humble person and more willing to rely on other members of his team in the kitchen.

Garcia also resumed work on his Active Ingredient pilot. In the show, he draws on his life experiences and his enjoyment of the outdoors to promote healthy food and an active lifestyle. He also preaches "a can-do attitude" of giving "it all you’ve got ... and [having] fun doing it." As of 2013, Garcia was actively searching for a TV network interested in airing the show.

In 2014, Garcia decided his five-fingered bionic hand was not ideal for cooking – it was not waterproof and got cut on several occasions – and switched to a bionic hook instead. "When you're cooking ... it's a dance almost," he explains. "With the hand I just didn't feel fluid, whereas with the hook ... I just rock and roll again." Montana Mex is due to be launched in stores throughout the United States.

Media attention

In September 2013, Garcia's story was featured on The Huffington Post. In November, he was profiled by People magazine. In December, he appeared on Good Morning America and his story was featured in the Daily Mail and Fox News Latino. In January 2014, he appeared on The Chew In May, he appeared on Katie.

Garcia has also appeared on Hallmark Channel’s "Home & Family" and his recipes have appeared on HGTV.com, Refinery29, and Latina.com.

Personal life

Garcia is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. He enjoys hiking, surfing, and skate boarding. He has volunteered with the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Common Threads, a program that teaches children in under privileged communities how to cook healthy meals.