Dear Tidalwaves' Families,

We hope all of the Tidalwaves are off to great school year! Many of you have begun swimming year-round and getting involved in additional sports, which is fantastic! We are already looking forward to supporting one another at future swimming events and having everyone back together next summer.

We (members of the board) have recently learned that one of the families from our team could use our support. Many of you may not know Andres Garcia, but some of you will. Andres is the father of Adam Garcia, one of the the 8 & under boys on our team. Andres is an avid triathlete, as well, and he was looking forward to competing in the Chattanooga Iron Man at the end of the month. 

Things quickly came to hault over the past weekend. While on a training bike ride, he hit a pothole, lost control and was thrown head over heels. Immediately after the wreck he was unconscious and not breathing. Thanks to a quick thinking surgeon on the ride, Andres was revived, stabilized and was later taken to Erlanger, where doctors discovered he had fractured his T6 and T7 vertebrea and had several leaks in his brain. 

He is the sole contributor to his family's income. This injury will amass countless medical bills and leave from work. A fund has been set up to help the family via another rider. Please see the attached link to make a contribution.

We wish Andres a quick recovery!.

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/crHu6?psid=4600b6c15efe46fb93fb3dd3b3ef3f57

​Thank you for any support that you can give this Tidalwave family.

Sincerely,

Melissa Waldrep, Secretary

​p.s. If the link does not open, you can copy and paste it to your browser address line. The link will also appear on the Tidalwaves webpage.