Latest / Author Hour / Chase the Light: Becoming Unbreakable After a Head-On Collision with Cesar Perez
Transcript
- speaker-0: I am honored to be joined by Caesar Perez, the author of Chase the Light: The Gruesome Art of Becoming Unbreakable. This story is absolutely amazing, Caesar. Could you please introduce yourself to our audience and tell us a little bit about your story in this amazing memoir? speaker-1: Yeah. Thank you for having me, Travis. Honestly. Yeah, my name is Cesar Perez or Cesar Perez to be honest, but everyone calls me Caesar. And I'm an author, actor, ⁓ musician, and a lead motion designer. So put all that together into one, honestly, I'd say I'm a I'm a storyteller through and through. speaker-0: Mm. So what happened? You were on quite a rise in your acting career and then something happened tragically. Could you tell the story? speaker-1: Yeah, unfortunately, you know, life throws curveballs at you. And I was already in the film industry. I was I I came in in production, you know, like that was my my primary role. Like I wanted to be part of the creative process and bringing a story to life, bringing a message across. And so that got me in position and the casting director saw me. He was like, You'd look up perfect for this. Would you mind auditioning? So I did and I didn't expect much anything of it. Turns out ⁓ now I star opposite of Daniel Radcliffe and Lisa Burden. So if you roll the credits, I'm like on there twice, part of the cast, but also the at the art department. So that just kinda snowballed, got me an agent, and then I was filming with Clint Eastwood on fifty seventeen to Paris. And then I had an audition for Venom. And this all happened like in twenty seventeen, ⁓ at the end of twenty seventeen. And then that audition to go for Venom, I never got to it 'cause I was driving down to go see my girlfriend, well, ex girlfriend now. i in Savannah and I got hit head on by a drunk driver going seventy six miles an hour I believe and then a semi truck hit me head on as well going over seventy miles an hour and that's kind of like where my life really went black. ⁓ everything I had accomplished thus far kind of just went out the window. Like my goals were just a distant memory at that point because I spent the next five years in and out of hospitals getting over thirty something procedures. I had a traumatic brain injury. I had every injury you can imagine really. And I've had every type of therapy too. So from music therapy, vocational therapy, you know, physical therapy, obviously. It was just it you definitely go through some dark moments. And for me, my family was that foundation on which I was able to build myself again. You know, they never left my side from day one. And that's kind of what I I accredited to my book. It was actually my mom's idea. She told me, Hey, stop start journaling. She thought it would help me heal my broken soul and everything I had lost. But I started and I listened, but not because I was expecting to heal or feel better. I just did it 'cause I couldn't do much of anything else. I could only type with my left hand. ⁓ I couldn't walk, couldn't really do much of anything else. Everything that I had, all the outlets that normally I would have, I I didn't anymore. I played five different instruments and I could barely move, I could barely talk. I I love working out. I couldn't do that. So it was just a bunch of emotions that I had to let out and my mom's idea was journaling. And I'm glad I did 'cause after a while I saw that there was a message I felt the you know, the audience could benefit from and my readers could benefit from. speaker-0: When we were talking earlier, you had a quote that I had to write down that I just love because you know, now I'm forty-five and I I n it took me this long to realize that family is the only thing, the most important thing. And you said, My family never left me. They showed me what true love actually is. And then you said, Putting my experience down in words helped me heal. And you you you kind of glossed over a bit. You had traumatic brain injury, a paralyzed right arm, a snapped femur, shattered face. You coded more than once. You had to relearn to breathe, eat, walk, and talk. You had every reason to give up and your mom gives you this idea to journal, and that leads to a book. How I mean you are just a remarkable, remarkable example. Of somebody that can overcome. W I just I'm so honored to be talking to you. speaker-1: ⁓ thank you. Thank you, honestly. But yeah, credit to my mom. I I mean when I when I coming up or growing up, I being an author was not one of my on my bingo card. It wasn't something I was gonna check off, right? Like I it never crossed my mind to do that. But again, I had all these injuries. I did co I died on scene three times, twice again at the hospital. So the fact that I was still alive and I had a possibility to get my life back just kinda It made me angry, obviously, at first, you know, and then it also made me depressed. But my mom was like, There was no outlet for me, so she started she was my therapist, my psychologist all in one. And she just told me to start writing and I did. And i I felt that my experience could help others, you know, navigate through their life altering moments, whether it be an accident, whether it be an illness or or an event that happened in their life that just kinda makes them feel like there's no point in tomorrow. Right, 'cause that's where I was. That's where I was stuck. I was like, why why do I want to continue? Right? Like it's if this is how life has treated me when I've tried to be the best person I can be. Like why? You know? And so those are the thoughts and the negative questions that really pop in your head, stay in your head really for a while. And if it wasn't for my family, my mom in particular, you know, to be there and help me guide me, be that light for me, you know, and and and kind of bring me out of that darkness, I don't know where I would have been. So now that I'm on the other side of things and people when they see me, they don't realize everything I've been through. It's just a testament to my family, the love, the care I received, but also to the resilience of the human spirit. You know, like we're capable of so much and we just we just gotta hold on for one more day. speaker-0: Do you still journal? speaker-1: I do journal. I do journal still. Mostly just 'cause it's it's it became a good habit for me, you know. It just kinda helped me put things in perspective and it keeps me being motivated, honestly, 'cause sometimes 'cause so many years have passed now since the accident. This happened in twenty eighteen and now I'm just like I all that energy and that, you know, determination that I had to get my life back, I don't ever want to lose that. So I still journal and every now and again I go back and reread my book, you know, 'cause I I don't want to lose that that perspective of life, you know. speaker-0: I started journaling about four years ago to to overcome some depression after some friends passed away suddenly at at a young age and and what what was amazing to me that I don't know if you experienced, but I would basically just write down all of my thoughts and summarize what my day was like. And I would get so much gratitude out of it. You know, because by the end of the day I'm exhausted and I'm thinking, ⁓ you know, all this stuff went wrong and I'm, you know, I'm thinking about all the bad stuff. And then I go through and I'm like, ⁓ this amazing thing happened. This amazing thing happened. And it just brought this like gratitude to my life, made me realize how much I was just ignoring. speaker-1: Yeah. No, it it definitely it did that for me as well. So I experienced the same thing you did. But not only that, I I also helped for my mom, again, it was her idea that it would kinda serve as a catharsis for my my broken soul and everything. And I didn't think it would, but as as I started writing, kept writing more, I realized that I wouldn't cry as much, you know, like what used to hurt me. Like I guess it w I was kind of building a scar over everything that had happened and so now I was able to recount everything, retell it, you know, repetitive doing it repeatedly, you know, just telling everything what happened. And it kind of just kind of helped scar a little bit, you know, and it wouldn't hurt as much. I would just be able to tell it. And which has helped me a lot now as I'm doing speaking engagements. You know, it's just like it's easy for me to talk about it. 'Cause I'm an open book, literally. speaker-0: So how did that work? How did it go from journaling to a book and then all of the amazing doors that that's opened for you since? How did that whole process happen? Obviously your mom was a huge part of it. speaker-1: Yeah, she was a huge part of it, but I also give credit to ⁓ one of my friends, Chris. He gave me once I got discharged from the first hospital, he and I was able to read. He brought he brought me a book, David Goggia's Can't Hurt Me book. And I was immediately, you know, thrust into it. And that determination that he had is something that I attribute also to my recovery. I I was like, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. I'm just I know he says let's stay hard and everything. And that's kind of what I had to do, you know, like I had to just push past everything. And I'm glad that I did. I didn't sugarcoat it. I didn't I was like, if if I don't do this, who's gonna do it for me? You know, at the end of the day, if I wasn't gonna able to get better, it wasn't gonna be because I didn't try, you know? And that was my mentality. And that's kind of what I kept kept going. And now the only difference between my story and obviously David Goggins is cause I I felt like I had worked so hard, you know, like my My comeback story kind of started from, you know, I was in a good place in my life, you know, professionally in my acting career, my music career. I was where I wanted to be, you know, like I was definitely getting to where I wanted to be. And then, you know, this happens and you gotta start all over. So where everyone's most comeback or, you know, memoirs start from bottom, you know, like a trajectory, like, ⁓ you gotta go up. Mine kinda went like shh shh and it's like Getting back to where you were, it it kind of feels depressing and really hard to just do it again, you know? And so that's kind of the I guess the wall I kept hitting. I was like, why do I want to put in all this effort into getting my life back again if this is how it turned out, right? And eventually I was like, no, I gotta get past it. Nobody's gonna do it for me. So yeah, when I left Shepherd and there's a there there's a moment of the book, I think I talk about it where We I love shepherd, my mom was wheeling me out. And I I told her in between all my tears and ever I was crying. I was like, I'm gonna get everything back that was taken from me. She was crying too, but she told me, I know you will, because that's how I raised you. And so I'm glad to say that now, years later, you know, I've gotten everything back. ⁓ faster than I was before, you know. Like every morning I wake up at five fifteen and my wife can t at attest to this and I go run a five K and then hit the gym for an hour, you know, not because I have to. I do it because I had that mentality throughout my recovery. It helped me get to where I am. And now I just don't want to lose that, you know, that discipline and that mentality of being the better version of myself than I was yesterday. And so I I continue to strive for my goals, you know. I'm I'm acting again and I'm back I told my mom when 'cause my the job I was at, I was at Cox Media Group and I was like, I'm gonna get back everything that was taken from me. I'm back there, I have a better job. So literally I've got back everything. speaker-0: Amazing. Goggins would be impressed with that wake up time too. speaker-1: Right? Especially 'cause I don't go to bed early either. I which I should. I should. That's something I gotta work on, but it's speaker-0: Wait, how are you you're staying up late and waking up at five fifteen? speaker-1: Yeah, 'cause I got like I'm doing like five different projects. I got my acting stuff and then so I go to bed like at twelve, twelve, ten. speaker-0: Man, that's impressive. Now ⁓ so your book ends up opening all of these doors. You're speaking and inspiring college kids. You're now your book is now a documentary that's on the documentary circuit. And can you tell me about how your book opened up all these doors? speaker-1: So I got the Yeah. So the book literally it became an Amazon bestseller ⁓ the first week it was out. And I I told my mom when I wrote it and I published it, I was like, if only you two had bought it, I would have been fine. Cause when I told them I was gonna publish my memoir, it was I said I was gonna do something, I'm gonna do it, you know. And the fact that it's helped so many people that I get messages from people that I don't even know, you know, and telling me how it's helped them get through their their husband's, you know, recent diagnosis. Whatever it is they're going through when I went to college, the college campuses speak, you know, someone was saying, Hey, I just lost my job. I don't know what to do. And then he he was like, he stayed through the presentation. He's like, It's impressive, like everything you went through. Like that's the mentality I want. And so I I I tell everybody, you know, reach out, I give them my socials, everything, because it not everybody has the family I have. Obviously. I don't think everybody is as close knit as my family was. I feel very blessed in that regard. But they were my light for me, you know, and the book is called Chase the Light. So I wanna be able to be that light for other people that are going through their life altering moments, you know, and kinda just help them come out of that dark moment they're in and just, you know, see at least brighter days, you know. speaker-0: Man, I you you're just so impressive. It's hard to even know where to go next. How did this become a documentary? And how is that going? Like one of the biggest things that we hear, especially from our authors that are writing a memoir, is how do I turn this into a film? Now obviously you had a lot of background and know how to do this, but how did that all how did that all work out? How did your book go to becoming a documentary? speaker-1: Yeah, so and this is is crazy the crazy part, right? Like throughout my recovery, obviously it's been like five years of full recovery, surgeries, procedures, therapy. And my family they took videos of me throughout my recovery, throughout my procedures and everything. Not because I was gonna b make a documentary, but rather 'cause n they didn't know how I was gonna be post accident, you know, like if I was gonna have some mental issues or memory issues. ⁓ so they just wanted to have stuff available for me to go back and look at. And ⁓ thankfully all my memory's still there, except two weeks, like right after the accident and two weeks post after the accident. That's stuff that's blank. I don't remember. And I'm actually okay with it, you know, like I don't remember the accident. I can drive, I don't have that trauma. So thankfully I remember everything else. And so they they have all these recordings of me going to my therapy and everything. And I was like, That's stuff that I didn't know. Obviously through my my recovery, I was learning everything that happened. And then I realized that the drunk driver was also from the same place I was born in El Salvador. And you know, as an immigrant, I've always tried to break that lens through which we're we're viewed as, you know, like we're just delinquents coming to the US when we're not. Now you can't paint everybody with the same brush, right? And so it it was just very I guess distraught. It made me distraught, you know, like learning that he was from the same place I was. And so mm I was like, there's a lot of elements that my story touches, you know, there's a lot of themes that it touches. So I was like, if I I've been in ⁓ in the film industry for a while, so I know all the production side of things. This is a documentary. This is a story on itself. Like it it's written, you know. So I'm gonna turn it into my own documentary. I 'cause I always wanted to be in a director, you know, like whether it was in production, whether it was in ⁓ as an actor, I always wanted to be able to tell my story, direct my story. And here I was with the once in a lifetime kind of opportunity, once in a lifetime kind of story. I was like, I'll do this myself. So I bought all the equipment. I went back and interviewed the EMS crew, the nurses, the first responders. And then for the drunk drivers criminal trial, I told my dad to bring the camera because I wanted to record it. Partially 'cause I didn't trust myself. I didn't want to do anything stupid. And I knew if cameras were on me, like I I would be okay. So he brought the camera and we recorded and all that stuff's in the documentary and it's raw footage, like it's I mean it's raw emotions, you know, nothing is scripted. And it's stuff that still breaks me, you know, 'cause my mom went with me and seeing her cry, seeing her pull out photos of me, how I looked before, you know, throwing it at him and or on the table, not at him. And, you know, just crying, how can you give me my son back, you know, when I'm still trying to recover? It's stuff that still moves me, you know. My mom is is my biggest treasure and ⁓ seeing her cry it makes me emotional still, you know. But I knew there was the words could go so far, you know, but if I had this footage and I could put it all together, I was like, I have I I own the IP, I own everything, I I wanna be able to make my documentary, put it out there and just help anybody. You know, like that was the whole purpose. I wanted to help others with their life altering moments. speaker-0: If you don't mind me asking, what was the result of the trial? speaker-1: Yeah, no, the result of trial was I think he wa if I remember correctly, he was sentenced to eight years and then he wa he had already served one or two, I believe, by the time the criminal trial came around. So he had it served like another six years post trial. But I literally Googled him not too long ago and he went back to jail for something else. So I I don't know what happened to him. speaker-0: ⁓ man, man. Well hopefully it wasn't another car accident. Yeah. speaker-1: It didn't it didn't look like it was another D UI or anything like that. I think it was just like another issue, you know. Mm-hmm. speaker-0: So now what is the plan? You're speaking, you're inspiring. I I love how you inspire people. And you you gave me that example earlier that you were talking about somebody coming up to you and saying, I overcame this. Like those things are that's priceless. The being able to be an example to say, Hey reader or hey viewer of this, I went through this. You can get through what you're going through. That that's gotta just be besides for your mom, that's gotta be one of the most fulfilling things I would imagine. speaker-1: No, it d it definitely is, 'cause and like I said, it's been happening more often now. Especially 'cause now, like when people see me, obviously you're not gonna think, ⁓ this guy coded three times. He had like three facial reconstructions, you know, everything was broken. But it's a testament, you know, to my determination, my resilience, but then also what we're capable of, you know? And so I've had other people come up and talk to me, Hey, I had just had my an injury in my back and everything, but looking at you, like how how did you get through all that stuff? And I was like I I explain to them my mentality, but also, you know, the exercise and I help them wherever I can, you know, like just giving them some tips throughout my recovery, what helped me, not just mentally but physically. And it's it it it just makes everything worth it in the end. You know, I again, I still don't think this should have ever happened, right? But as part of the theme and part of the message in my book, it's just because, you know, something wrong happens in your life doesn't mean you can't give your life purpose again. And I'm glad I found mine again. And I'm able to shine some light in others. speaker-0: I thought if I can get out of this, there's nothing I can't do. As long as there's breath in me, it's still possible to live a beautiful life. Those quotes from you, I just I'll never forget. I think that that's like it really encapsulates your personality about this. To be able to persevere through all that you went through, that's amazing. It's it's really amazing, Caesar. And we we didn't really close that loop too. So your friend Chris, I I think gives you David Goggins book. Is that what led you to scribe? Like how did you go from your journaling to a world class book and then a documentary and then, you know, possibly a movie? Like how did that all come about? speaker-1: Yeah, it it came from again, I've always been a very fitness advocate, wellness advocate, whatever you wanna call it. Like I've always loved working out, you know. And right then, after the accident, I was like I felt useless, you know, worse than that really, 'cause I couldn't do much of anything else. I couldn't even eat by myself, walk by myself. I had to, you know, get some help to go to the bathroom, tie my shoes. So it was very depressing. And I've always had that outlet of being able to go work out, going to do stuff. And my mom was like, Hey, your brain is a muscle, so why don't you train that? Read books and like learn new software. So literally that's what I did. I started learning new software for my work. Was I ever gonna go back to work again? I didn't know that at the time, but I was like, It's not gonna be 'cause I didn't try or 'cause I'm not prepared by the time that does come to me. And so I I kept writing, kept working out, I mean kept ⁓ working on software, learning new stuff and I once I started reading David Gogg's book, I was like learning and figuring out how I could get my memoir published. And that's how I got in touch with Scribe. I I did several research, you know, with different publishers, but at the end I went with Scribe because I started realizing that I wanted to create my own film, my own documentary, and I wanted to own all the rights to it, own the IP. And so that's why I was like Scribe was the best the best solution and the best the I guess the best offer for me. speaker-0: Man, well we're honored that you chose us. Your mom is just an inspiration. Inspiration. I I want to take a totally weird turn because I'm a tech nerd by trade. So I I wonder, you know, a as I mentioned, Caesar, before we started recording, you know, I'm I'm wearing a ribbon because I I'm on a school board and we tragically lost two students that got hit by a car. and passed away in their funeral was actually today. And so I'm wearing this to honor them. And it's amazing to be talking to Caesar on this day. And this is totally an aside. So if if you, you know, don't want to talk about this, I totally understand. But, you know, I'm a tech nerd. It feels like we're on this cusp of having cars be automated. You know, we've got Waymo and we've got, you know, all the other companies that are doing it. I think it's like a million people a year die in car accidents. It's like 35,000 in America. Obviously, with what you went through, with what your family went through, with what this family locally is going through. How do you think about self-driving cars? Like, is this something that's exciting for you? Could could this help avoid some of these drunk driving, you know, accidents that took so much from you? And how do you think about this? speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, for sure, drunk driving number one, it should never happen, right? But like these automated vehicles, you know, it does help a lot. At least for me also, you know, like nowadays, even though I'm fully functional, I can I can drive, I can do everything. But I like one time, maybe like a few months ago, like I felt like I left the brake a little too soon. And I was already parked, but I almost hit the car that was in front of me and it automatically stopped. Like it it break it broke, right? Hit the brakes for me, is what saying. And thankfully I didn't hit it, you know. And with the new technology and all this stuff that's coming out, I'm like, that's that's great, right? But at the end of the day, I also want to make sure that I'm in ⁓ you know, I guess I'm not inebriated and I'm not I have all my senses on me, you know, like I'm not gonna rely just on technology or just AI. Like I wanna make sure that I'm also doing my part. So I think both things go hand in hand, you know, like use technology to the best of your advantage. ⁓ your availability, but then also make sure that you're good a hundred percent to drive it should you need to. speaker-0: Yeah, absolutely. Yep. And I was wondering too, because we were talking about the speaking that you do. So my favorite question that we've asked on author hour for a long time is what is the coolest unexpected thing, the unexpected result that came from your book? You know, sometimes it's somebody coming up to you at one of those speaking events and saying that your book helped them get over this. What is What is the most surprising, unexpected, good thing that happened as a result of your book? speaker-1: I mean I would ⁓ yeah, I I would have to say like the random people and I wouldn't even call them random now. Like I'm just like ⁓ readers or people who have read my book know my my about my story. 'Cause not not everybody has read the book. Some of them have known my story and are waiting for the documentary and all good with that. But it's just realizing how many people my story has touched, you know, thanks to the book and the messages that I normally get and people who do come up to me and tell me, Hey dude, you're an inspiration like I don't know how you did it, but you've you've kind of given me that that ⁓ you know, hope that there is better days ahead and that there's no reason why I shouldn't continue trying to better myself and better my situation. And at the end of the day, like that's that's the cherry on top for me. 'Cause like I said, if only my mom and my dad had bought it, I would have been okay 'cause I did what I said I was gonna do. But then to see the change the the lives that I've changed and touched with my story is is something that I, you know. Makes it worth it all in the end. speaker-0: Man, that's perfect. How have the speaking opportunities been coming to you? speaker-1: Yeah, it's been at first it was just by what do you call it? Word of mouth, you know, like friends who've been involved in the in the community or friends who have been involved in the college campuses. And now it's just more and more, you know, people who do go to these speaking events that I c that I go at where I'm I am at, that then they're like, ⁓ hey, I need you. I would like for you to come speak to this this organization or come here and speak to the our school. So now it's just been, you know, picking up f five events. People have just been reaching out. speaker-0: What's on the horizon now? Obviously you mentioned that your documentaries doing the circuit, I'm sure on the winning some awards this year. Yeah. What is what's next for you? speaker-1: ⁓ the next thing for me is ideally right in a perfect world, perfect scenario, I do I already have a script written or half written for to turn this into a feature film. And if you think about I don't know if you've seen the movie Broken with Jake Jillen Hall and basically it was about the the ⁓ Boston bombing. And it basically it's kinda like that, like that recovery process and just it really shines through with the resilience of the human spirit and everything we're capable of. So that's kinda like where it's it's headed. Like that's kind of the idea. Like I have the script, I have a pitch deck written. So that's that's the the next the next goal to actually have a feature film. The documentary is done. That's raw f ra emotion, you know, nothing's scripted there for the film. It would be basically taking the the book. the story and then just, you know, prepping it and scripting it for a feature film. speaker-0: And where can people find you? Where can they find the book? Where can they find your documentary? How can they support you? Cause I know a lot of people are going to want to support you. speaker-1: Absolutely. No, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, they can find the book on Amazon, Chase the Light, The Gruesome Art of Becoming Unbreakable. And then they can follow me on my socials, Caesar C E S A R underscore Perez, P-E-R-E-Z, fit F I T. Again, I made that Instagram account way before. Back when I was very into I mean, I still am into fitness, but now there's a lot of more acting stuff, more production stuff on my on my Instagram. But yeah, reach out and I tell this to everybody, like, reach out, you know, I'm an open book. Like I was saying, literally, but I do I do just wanna help anybody going through their life altering moments, you know. Like my life my family was that light for me and I feel like it's my turn to kinda help be that light for somebody else. speaker-0: Is there any message that you want to deliver to David Goggins? speaker-1: Yeah, no. Thank you, honestly, 'cause without that book, I I really needed that push. When when Chris gave me that book, I was like I really was in a dark moment and I didn't know if it was worth it to keep pushing myself past my limitations and past that pain because there was so much pain, especially going through these surgeries procedures. But reading the book and realizing, hey, nobody else is gonna do it for me and at the end of the day It's not gonna be 'cause I didn't try. That kinda put me in a new perspective on life, like and a in a new appreciation too for everything. And so thank you, David. speaker-0: He will love that. He will love that. And thank you so much, Caesar. I I'm so excited for you. I want to meet your mother because what a what a what a powerhouse. And I'm we're just all cheering for you. If there's anything that we can do for you, ⁓ please let us know. And you've got incredible story that you're gonna inspire a lot of people and help a lot of people. So thank you for putting it out in the world. speaker-1: ⁓ no, thank you. And thank you, Scrub, honestly, 'cause it put my vision ⁓ you know, on paper and man, it's it's everything I've wanted and more. speaker-0: Thank you so much. We're honored to be a part of it.