Frank Verdejo-Chica refuses to be a victim of his disorder. The former Miami Lakes Educational Center (MLEC) student, who left public school for a year to deal with his diagnosis, Tourette Syndrome (TS), blossomed into a vocalist singing side by side with Josh Groban.
Verdejo-Chica spent a majority of his childhood in Miami Lakes, having moved from the Bronx, New York when he was 10. He attended Lawton Chiles Middle School and MLEC until his world was changed in his sophomore year of high school.
He suffered from uncontrollable barking, screams, rapid blinking, and the most prominent, a neck tic that he first began experiencing in adolescence.
“It's like a volcano. If you supress it, it erupts,” said Verdejo-Chica.
He was diagnosed in 2008 with the neurological disorder, TS, manifesting in “tics” which are sudden, repetitive movements and utterances. Prior to his diagnosis, Verdejo-Chica stopped attending public school in favor of being homeschooled through the Merrick Educational program.
While in public school, Verdejo-Chica would ask to be excused from class to relieve his vocal tics so as to not disturb the rest of the class. It became too difficult to attend public school with his tics and anxiety flaring up.
“In the beginning my family was really sad,” said Verdejo-Chica. “My sister would try to find natural things to help, and my mom had placed a really expensive call out to a doctor in China for five minutes of his time, desperate to find anything that could help me.”
That doctor believed that Tourette Syndrome is sometimes caused by a lack of fat between dendrites and suggested fish oils for omega 3 fatty acids, B-complex supplements and magnesium.
Verdejo-Chica also began taking medication to quell his tics, to no avail.
“I don't take medication anymore because it helped very little,” said Verdejo-Chica. “I felt like a zombie, it made me a completely different person. So I made the decision with my family to begin taking a lower dosage, until I eventually stopped taking it at all. I only take vitamins now.”
In lieu of medication, Verdejo-Chica found that certain activities greatly reduced his tics, particularly jogging and singing.
After watching a season of American Idol, Verdejo-Chica developed a passion for music and singing, though he needed to train his voice. After practicing singing he realized that his tics nearly completely vanished any time he was singing.
Verdejo-Chica gathered his courage and returned to MLEC for his senior year.
“Returning back to school was a big struggle, three months prior to the beginning of the school year I still felt I wasn't ready, but I prepared myself mentally,” he said. “I didn't want to graduate from homeschooling, so I ran a lot and sang a lot, and somehow I was able to go back.”
Though he originally planned to pursue culinary school to become a chef, upon the revelation that music had silenced his tics, Verdejo-Chica changed his future plans to study music. Despite his challenging junior and senior years of high school, Verdejo-Chica was accepted into the University of Florida and earned his bachelor’s in music.
“It was a very amazing feeling to know that there was something out there to have helped me in those moments of desperation. I kind of lost my hope in trying to recover, thinking ‘when will this ever go away?’ until one day I just didn't scream anymore,” said Verdejo-Chica. “I was happy to have some of my symptoms subside.”
During his time at UF, Verdejo-Chica wrote over 20 songs. He completed production on one full song called “Through The Storm” inspired by his struggles with TS. Almost exactly five years after Verdejo-Chica's diagnosis, he raised his hand in the middle of a Josh Groban concert at the BB&T Center and requested to sing with the vocalist.
“I saw that a few others had the opportunity to sing with him while on tour so I decided I would be one of those singers,” said Verdejo-Chica. “I stood up, raised my hand and yelled ‘I have something to tell you! I want to sing with you!’ I thought, the worst that can happen is he says no and I'm embarrassed in front of hundreds of people, or he says yes. And he did.”
Verdejo-Chica gleefully ran up the stage and announced his desire to sing Groban's song “To Where You Are.” His performance was applauded by the audience and Groban alike, a deafening sound that can be heard on a YouTube video on Verdejo-Chica's website, www.frankmartinverdejochica.com.
Inspired by Verdejo-Chica's story, the editor for American Way magazine, the American Airlines magazine, featured him in the July 2014 edition of the magazine and played his song aboard all flights.
Verdejo-Chica has made it a priority to overcome the obstacles his disorder creates, and in the process has noted that without these setbacks, he wouldn't be the courageous person he is today.
“I don't know that there will ever be a day when I don't have tics,” said Verdejo-Chica. “But I hope to inspire others out there with my story. I’d like to bring as much awareness to Tourette’s as possible and look up to others who have it and don’t let it stop them, like American Soccer Goalie, Tim Howard.”
Verdejo-Chica is in the studio, recording songs and writing lyrics, dreaming still of the day when he might be able to hear his songs on the radio.
“Nobody lives forever,” he said. “So if you have a dream, go for it now.”