Community Gathers to Support Rodriguez Family Fundraiser

Those close to newlyweds Crystal and Victor Rodriguez had a chance Sunday to come together and share memories, good times and maybe even some reprieve as a basketball tournament fundraiser took place at Hardwood Palace in Rocklin.

On June 16, Crystal and Victor were in a parasailing accident while on their honeymoon in the Bahamas. The couple fell from about 40 feet into the water. Victor ended up with some major internal injuries and Crystal, 22, was pronounced dead at a local area hospital shortly thereafter.

Victor was actually able to attend the event. He spent time at a hospital in Florida recovering from his fall but returned to his Sacramento-area home on July 19.

His mother, Jeanne Rodriguez, said it is incredible how much Victor has improved since returning home.

“When he got here, initially he was in the hospital. He still had a chest tube, he still had drains,” she said, “Within four days everything was out, he was at home, walking with a cane, being very tired and now he doesn’t walk with the cane.”

Jeanne said right now her son is probably at 85 percent physically. She added that his doctors think he will recover from his more severe internal injuries by January. She said it has been an emotional and tragic time for everyone involved.

All of the money raised will go toward Victor’s medical expenses and Crystal’s funeral service.

Kevin Lindner and Grant Yamasaki helped setup the event. Lindner and Yamasaki have been friends since they were little kids.

“We had 28 teams in the tournament and everyone showed up. I had all of my refs volunteer their time to help out and they’ve been great,” Yamasaki said. “It seems like everyone is enjoying the food and the prizes and it’s just been a great event for the community to come out.”

He said they were able to use Hardwood Palace because he works there.

Yamasaki was a groomsman at the Rodriguez’s wedding on June 4. He has known Rodriguez since 2005. Lindner, who is the junior varsity boys’ basketball head coach at Bella Vista, was Victor’s best man in the wedding.

“We played on each other’s softball teams and in fantasy leagues like fantasy baseball, fantasy football," Yamasaki said. “Anything we’re able to connect with, because we’re both sports guys.”

Yamasaki said he is not sure how Victor is doing psychologically. He has not talked to him about it because it is a tough subject to get into.

“He’s doing much better than I ever thought he would at this point,” Yamasaki said. “It’s only been two months and it seems like he’s doing his best to kind of move on as much as he can in a situation like this.”

Yamasaki said he thinks the support Victor has received from family, friends and the community has helped his recovery but there is still some work to be done.

“Certain things he’s just reminded of her all of the time and I know when he’s alone it gets tough at times,” he said.

Lindner said Victor looked happy just to be able to be there.

“You could tell he could feel the support from all of the people being here. He looked really good,” Lindner said. “It’s just good to see him walk around without having to limp or bend over.”

The Rodriguez’s story has been so moving that it has received national and international attention.

People who did not even know the bride and groom attended the fundraiser.

John Magsayo of Lincoln, 33, said he heard the family’s story and wanted to get involved.

“Today’s been going great. I’ve been meeting a lot of guys out here, with some familiar faces and it’s just good to come out here and play for this organization to give back,” Magsayo said, “from what I heard it was going back to the family so that’s always a good cause.”

Jeanne said it was incredible seeing all of the teams come together to support her son during this time. She said a co-ed team called Crystal’s Dream Team was her favorite to watch.

“A lot of them on the team were the bridesmaids and the groomsmen and so it’s just sweet watching them play,” she said.

Lindner said it was great to see how much the community stepped up to support the Rodriguez family.

“There was just so many raffle items that were donated from businesses around here and I thought that was really awesome,” he said.

Nikki Harris, a jeweler with Premier Design Jewelry, said 50 percent of the sales from the booth setup were given to the Rodriguez family and 20 percent will be donated from any home shows someone books at a specific time period from the fundraiser.

“Betsy (Cline) knows (Crystal’s) family and found out about the tournament,” Harris said. “Her son is helping do the scoreboards today so she wanted to figure out another way to help out.” 

Victor does not have medical insurance and his bills are adding up.

“With all of these fundraisers they have been raising a lot of money, which is a blessing,” his mother said.

It is unclear why the harness that Crystal and Victor were using snapped but the company that owns the equipment, Ocean Motion Watersports, Ltd., is under investigation by police in the Bahamas.

Jeanne said her son has hired a lawyer.

“We just kind of leave it in their hands and of what will happen,” she said.

The amount of money raised still needs to be counted but volunteers said there was only three T-shirts left, they needed to sell 50 hot dog/hamburger meals to break even (they sold 250) and they sold around 500 to 600 raffle tickets.

“I’ve heard there are a lot of tickets and when there are a lot of tickets that means there is a lot of money being made,” Lindner said.

Lindner and Yamasaki have been planning the event for nearly two months. Both were pleased with the turnout.

“We’ve had a lot of help. My parents, my fiancé, Kevin’s wife, and then Kevin’s family, too,” Yamasaki said. “We’ve had so much support from our friends and family to put this event on so it’s been a real great help.”

Jeanne said it was fun watching Victor’s friends rally around him.

“They got him a neat little T-shirt and on the back it says ‘captain’ and a little C for Crystal,” she said. “He is blessed to have such giving and loving friends who like to have a lot of fun.”