Laugh for A Cause, a comedic event to benefit spinal cord injury victim Ruben Casas of Ceres, will be held at Mariachi's Restaurant, 2669 Geer Road, in Turlock on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Tickets are $15 per person in advance if purchased online at https://bit.ly/laughforacause or $20 per person at the door.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. The show will feature Eric Von Kauffman, headliner winner of comedy competition ay Hero's; Bay area comedians Hence Singleton, Richard Sarvate and El Roberto; and Johnny Creal who headlines nationally.

Food and drink will be available for purchase as well as a silent auction.

Casas, 18, is a former Central Valley High School star baseball athlete who was left a quadriplegic with no chance of ever walking again following a May 4 accident in a swimming pool.

Ruben was with friends at the time of his accident in San Luis Obispo. He decided to dive into the pool along with everyone else but Ruben dove two feet too far to his right and straight down, causing him to hit his head on the bottom. The crash broke his spine at the C6 and C7 vertebrae. Doctors have told him that the spinal cord injury is so severe that we will never walk again, difficult for anyone to face, let alone one who wanted to devote his life to helping others as a paramedic.
Casas was studying to become an EMT (emergency medical technician) while also studying Criminal Administration to become a police officer at Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo.

The devastating injury has also altered the lives of Ruben's parents, who now must adjust their lives.

Melanie Casas, Ruben's mother, said her family is in need of financial resources to cover medical bills and other expenses. An effort is underway through hopelive.org (https://m.helphopelive.org/campaign/4621) trying to get donations for the family to help with the medical costs that are not covered for continued physical therapy and items needed for his care. Even with insurance, Ruben will have many uninsured injury-related expenses such as recovery-based therapies, medical expenses, home modifications and medical equipment.

For more information, contact Melanie Casas at 765-6557 or Olivia Malekos at 531-3517.