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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Nolan King

Conor McGregor, Irish MMA community rally around pro fighter Ryan Curtis after severe spinal injury

Ryan Curtis Conor McGregor MMA Leah McCourt Michael Conlan Bellator John Kavanagh Paul Hughes

The Irish MMA community is coming together to rally around one of its own, in need of great medical and financial assistance.

Pro flyweight Ryan Curtis recently suffered a broken back, broken neck, and dislocated spine in training and has lost the use of his arms and legs, according to a GoFundMe account set up in his name.

“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,” a statement on the fundraiser page reads. “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.”

Curtis, 31, is a 10-fight veteran, including appearances in Bellator, Brave CF and Cage Warriors.

Curtis’s accident caught the attention of many in the small, yet tight-knit and powerful Irish MMA community with stars like former UFC champion Conor McGregor, SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh and top Bellator featherweight Leah McCourt spreading awareness for donations on social media.

McGregor is listed as having donated $25,000. Bellator executive Mike Kogan donated $1,500 and Dillon Danis and boxer Michael Conlan each are listed for $1,000 donations. At the time of initial publication of this story, the fundraiser was about 90 percent toward its $100,000 goal.

“Ryan will be out of work for the foreseeable future and we are trying to take any additional load or stress of Ryan’s family and daughter by creating a page to raise some funds to help towards rehabilitation, vital treatment, recovery and supporting his family,” the fundraiser page says.

Scroll below to see the messages of support for Curtis.

Conor McGregor

Coach John Kavanagh

Michael Conlan

Leah McCourt

 

 

 

 

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