Former South Carolina star Stephen Garcia undergoes successful surgery, wife provides update on cancer battle

Nearly four and a half months after former South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia was diagnosed with stage four cancer, he underwent successful surgery Tuesday night. In the aftermath of the surgery, Garcia’s wife, Masha, gave an update on his condition. “Update: Stephen is out of surgery. In the ICU,” Garcia wrote on Facebook. “Surgeon called and said the cancer is out!!! thank you for all the prayers!!!” $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage She later clarified that he is ‘not officially cancer free’, and that it is ‘going to be a long journey with surveillance’ for the former South Carolina quarterback. Garcia played for the Gamecocks from 2007-2011, and cemented himself as a program legend by throwing three touchdowns in their 35-21 win over No. 1 Alabama in 2010. “PS earlier tonight I said the cancer is out. Stephen has stage 4 cancer and is not officially cancer free,” Garcia continued. “It’s going to be a long journey with surveillance. Thank you again for your love and prayers.” Garcia officially shared his cancer diagnosis in early May of this year. Per GamecockCentral, he first started experiencing pain in the lower left side of his abdomen in July 2025. After a few months of discomfort, he finally went to get things checked out. “When I got an ultrasound, the ultrasound noticed a few spots on my liver, and they recommended getting an MRI,” Garcia said, via GamecockCentral. “So we got the MRI, they found two lesions on the right side of the right lobe of the liver, and they said, ‘You’ve got to go get a colonoscopy immediately.’ “So we did, and the guy went up there and said he was 13 centimeters up and said, ‘I can’t pass through there without knocking anything down. We’re going to order a biopsy to make sure it’s the same cancer, because that’s what we think it is.’ They matched. So it started when the colon trickled into the liver.” Across his four-year career at SC, Garcia accrued 7,597 passing yards (third-most in program history) and 47 passing touchdowns (fifth-most in program history). The beloved Gamecock is not alone in his battle, and remained confident that he would emerge victorious in his battle. “There’s a book that I read a long time ago, ‘No Easy Day.’ It’s about Navy SEALs. And one of the things that I’ve always remembered is, ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ And it’s, ‘One bite at a time,’” Garcia said. “So that’s the model I’m going with right now. Just taking one day at a time and trying to stay as positive as possible. We’re going to kick this thing in the teeth and knock it out. There is no other option. There is no other plan B; this is what we’re doing. And I have complete faith in the team that I have around me.”