Cheering on the Panthers helped teen battling aggressive cancer get through difficult experience

BOCA RATON, Florida. – Florida Panthers fans are dedicated and enthusiastic as their team is four wins away from winning the Stanley Cup.

To a fan, they are much more than just a hockey team.

On April 25, 2023, Reese Garcia was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, epithelioid sarcoma.

The 18-year-old immediately needed chemotherapy.

“There's a 50/50 chance that it will come back, and if it does come back, it will be a lot worse than the first time,” Garcia said. “I just hope it never comes back.”

Garcia has been a huge Florida Panthers fan since he was 6 years old.

While he was in the hospital and undergoing rounds of chemo, it was the Panthers that kept him going.

“I’ve worn the same jersey since I was six,” he said. “I wear it to every game.”

The team gave Garcia something to look forward to, the painful nights made a little easier with a Panthers victory.

This playoff run did not end in a Stanley Cup championship. This year, the Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Final and looking to finish what they started last season.

“It would mean everything,” Garcia said.

A year later, the 19-year-old from Boca Raton is now in remission.

Garcia thinks back to his days in the hospital, dressed in full Panthers gear.

“It was the most comfortable,” he said. “Come on Panthers! »