Garcia’s Symptoms Evident Too Late

LAS VEGAS — Boxer Jimmy Garcia could have survived his fight with Gabriel Ruelas if doctors had a way to tell earlier that he was bleeding in the brain, his neurosurgeon said.

Because doctors didn’t know of the bleeding, the fight continued to the point where there was a massive shift in Garcia’s brain, Al Capanna said.

“If we would have known that 20 minutes earlier we could have operated and maybe there would have been no damage,” he said.

Capanna, participating Monday in a review of medical assistance given Garcia in the fight, said the first sign Garcia was injured came when he collapsed in the corner after his May 6 super-bantamweight title fight was stopped in the 11th round.

Capanna, who was at ringside, said he was operating on Garcia in a nearby hospital within 40 minutes of his collapse. Garcia died 13 days later without regaining consciousness.

Capanna told members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s medical advisory board that he plans to experiment with a portable ultrasound unit in the near future to try to see if doctors can get a look inside a boxer’s head in the corner between rounds.

“I don’t know if we can do it between rounds, but we’re going to try it,” Capanna said. “It’s at least a start.”