Media

Rick Futia and his nephew/author Jag Jefferson have been interviewed on the following podcasts to discuss Rickicello:

🎙 Live to Walk Again

Episode 239: Rick Futia and Jag Jefferson

Host Jerimie Dixon welcomes Rick and Jag to speak about the Mountain Dew commercial that essentially led to Rick becoming paralyzed, spending nearly 9 months in rehabilitation after the injury, and the difficulty adapting to life in a wheelchair early on.  They also speak about Rick becoming one of the Bay Area’s most eligible bachelors in the early 90s, the story of his family immigrating from Italy in the 1950s, and the importance of friends and family after suffering a spinal cord injury.  [Listen here.]

 

🎙 Wheelchair Ric

Wheelchair Wednesday with Rick Futia, C5/C6 Incomplete Quadriplegic

Host Ric Bater has a lively discussion with Rick and Jag, talking all about Rick’s accident, what went through his mind after it happened, coping with coming home after rehab, and adjusting to family life in the months that followed.  [Watch here.]

 

🎙 Blink of an Eye

Episode 300: Surviving the Crash: A 17-Year-Old’s Journey from Stud to Survivor

Host Louise Phipps Senft talks with Rick Futia and his nephew, Jag Jefferson, about the 1982 accident that altered the course of Rick’s life forever.  At seventeen, Rick was an athletic powerhouse whose identity was entirely wrapped up in his physical strength and studious caution.  He recounts the eerie premonitions he felt on the day of his injury, from a lingering look at his mother to a strange reflection in a store mirror, before a stunt involving a tractor tire at the lake went wrong. [Listen here.]

 

🎙 Italian American Stories

Episode 86: Rick Futia – An Italian American Story of Survival & Comeback

Host Stephanie Detton and her husband Jared sit down with Rick and his nephew, Jag Jefferson — author of Rickicello — to talk about survival, reinvention, and what it truly means to live boldly after everything changes. From Rick’s bodybuilding days and teenage confidence… to the shocking accident that altered his future… to the unexpected “rockstar” comeback that followed, this episode is filled with honesty, humor, and heart.  [Watch here / Listen here.]

 

🎙 Life After Paralysis

Episode 65: Paralyzed 44 Years, Rick Futia Shares “Rockstar” Life in New Book

Host Tiffiny Carlson writes: ‘Supported by his large Italian-American family, he refused to stop living life with joy. Rick quickly became notorious for his appearances at clubs and parties throughout San Jose, California, the city where he was born and raised. And he leapt back into dating, realizing women could still see past his injury.  Rick’s legendary comeback story has been chronicled in a new biography, “Rickicello,” written by his nephew Jag Jefferson, who also joins him in this episode.’  [Watch here / Listen here.]