Former Gamecock quarterback Stephen Garcia announced May 6 that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer and is beginning chemotherapy. Garcia, who played under coach Steve Spurrier from 2008-11, threw for the third-most passing yards in school history and quarterbacked the Gamecocks to their only SEC East championship in 2010. His medical team is starting him on FOLFIRINOX, the most aggressive chemotherapy treatment available.
The news came as Ted Turner, founder of CNN and one of the largest private landowners in the United States, died May 6 at age 87. Turner owned more than 2 million acres of land overall, including approximately 15,000 acres in South Carolina. He established some of the earliest conservation easements in state history, including a first-of-its-kind toward preservation of more than 300,000 acres of the ACE Basin, and purchased key properties including Hope Plantation, Kinloch Plantation and St. Phillips Island.
Turner’s conservation efforts helped make South Carolina one of the top states in the nation for private land conservation, with about 15 percent of the state now permanently conserved. His legacy extends beyond land preservation; his approach to conservation provided a model for environmental stewardship that has influenced decades of conservation work in the state and nationally, demonstrating how private individuals can leverage resources to protect critical habitats and ecosystems.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.postandcourier.com/news/stephen-garcia-gamecock-cancer-ted-turner-sc-conservation/article_78f4acf7-b2b9-4732-9848-dba5836fce6a.html