Cesar Perez: What do you want to tell college students about driving while intoxicated?


A professional actor with a promising career, Cesar Perez was on a meteoric rise until a drunk driver slammed into his car head-on. He coded on the paramedics more than once on the way to the hospital, and coded again when he arrived. It’s a miracle he even survived. Still, he wouldn’t have called it miraculous at the time. In one devastating blow, all his dreams had been ripped away. A severe brain injury had left him almost entirely incapacitated. His right arm was paralyzed. His femur had snapped in two. His face was shattered. He spent months learning how to breathe, eat, walk, and talk all over again. In the midst of it all, his girlfriend left him—the same girlfriend he had been on his way to see that fateful night. But life, ultimately, is a gift. Fragile, firm, and beautiful. Throughout the course of Cesar’s long, often tortuous recovery, “Chase the Light” shines with courage, grace, and the resilience of the human spirit—reminding us that every life has meaning and every soul has a purpose, always, even in our darkest moments.

In episode 291 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out why Cesar chose Georgia Southern University, what he was most worried about after the car accident, what he thinks of when he sees pictures of the accident or pictures of himself in the hospital, when it was the right time to share the story in a book, how his outlook on life has changes since the accident, how COVID-19 affected his recovery, how his injuries affect being active in his family life as he was before the accident, why it’s important to have a good support system when recovering from a car accident, what he wants to tell college students about drinking while driving, and what was it like meeting the first responders who saved him. Enjoy!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShBlsEMvxSg