Ryan Curtis might no longer enter the cage again after a serious spinal injury that sent him to the ICU. Now, in difficult times, the MMA community, including Conor McGregor and Leah Mccourt, is showing support for the fighter and his family.
Curtis is known for his appearances in Brave CF, Cage Warriors, and Bellator. The fighter had his last fight in April 2023 against Nicolas Leblond, who submitted him. This gave Curtis a general 5-4 MMA record.
However, during his training, the Irish fighter encountered an injury in his recent training on January 11, giving him a broken back and neck and a dislocated spine. According to Bellator’s No. 1-ranked women’s featherweight fighter, Mccourt, who arranged the GoFundMe account for Curtis, “the damage is classified as the most severe that can happen to a spinal cord.”
“Currently Ryan has no movement in his legs or his left arm,” McCourt wrote in the fundraiser page. “The road ahead is unknown and will involve at least 5 months of him in hospital, followed by a further period of time with a specialist spinal team. There is no exact end date to when this treatment will be complete…
“Understandably he is distressed at present, we have limited access to see him. He is in ICU and hopefully being moved to spinal ward when conditions improve. He is still showing his positive outlook, his determination and mindset to overcome yet another challenge that life has presented.”
At the time of writing, the fundraiser has raised £100,655 of its £150,000 goal. Among the leading contributors is McGregor, who donated £25,000. Other known MMA personalities also expressed support, with Bellator executive Mike Kogan and retired fighter Dillon Danis donating $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.
Sending my support and well wishes to Dublin MMA fighter Ryan Curtis after suffering life changing injury in practice. Here is a link to his go fund me , he has a young daughter and the family needs our support 🙏❤️ https://t.co/a57zcOqHkv pic.twitter.com/qTIhbekLc1
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 14, 2024
My brother and best friend through everything in life. https://t.co/sGPDpWo1uS pic.twitter.com/pRDj6sdyL5
— Leah McCourt (@leahmccourtmma) January 13, 2024
Additionally, different known Irish personalities and MMA stars are promoting the fundraiser and expressing their support for Curtis.
