Anyone remember WEC fighter Will Ribeiro?

[Luke]

Will Ribeiro Cries For Help, Black House Turns Back on Injured Fighter

For those of you who might not already know, WEC bantamweight fighter, Will Ribeiro (MMA record 9-2), is still making progress as he attempts to battle back from a life-threatening motorcycle accident, dating back to December 2008.

Ribeiro was critically injured while riding on the back of a motorcycle on rain-slick roads without a helmet. He was in a comatose state and lost vision in one eye. Doctors gave Ribeiro a 50/50 chance of ever waking up.

And he did.

Until recently however, Ribeiro has basically been out of sight and out of mind to many MMA fans



Until one day…

I was checking the daily news feed on Facebook, when I suddenly took notice of a message that Ribeiro had been pasting onto dozen’s of different Facebook walls.

It read (JR revision):

“I am Will Ribeiro. I fought in the WEC event against Brian Bowles and Chase Beebe. After fighting in the United States, I returned to Brazil and suffered a motorcycle accident.

“Half of my body is partially paralyzed. I am not able to work at this very moment, and my business managers Jorge Guimarães (Black House manager) and Ed Soares have not helped me.

“I need help urgently!

“Wanderlei Silva gave me one of his fight shorts for Auction in the United States to help me with my rehab. Michael Costa and Wanderlei will try to make the campaign to help me. Wanderlei is a very nice guy.

“I have no mother or father. Only my brother takes care of me. Thank you very much to heart.”

Honestly, I didn’t know what to make of this at first, so I decided to reach out directly to Ribeiro, but due to his injuries and lack of English, our conversation was kept short.

more here:

http://bit.ly/bdEKmi




[youtube:21pwbc21]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpAoXNrPbeg[/youtube:21pwbc21]

[MMA_scientist]

I feel bad for the guy, but it is not the fault or responsibility of his gym to take care of him. I mean, I think most friends would try to do something for the guy, but to expect it is pretty wrong IMO.

[SPX]

That's pretty fucked up. I remember when this first happened and I've actually checked back in for info on his status, but this is the first I've heard anything in months (thanks, Luke).

It sucks that motorcycles are so bad ass, but also so dangerous. I used to have one and have thought a lot about getting another, but stories like this kind of caution me against it.

As for his team helping him, I dunno. I figure your team is supposed to be like your family (especially if you don't have any actual family) and I would think that that would be even more true in a country like Brazil where the mindset is less individualistic

Maybe I should throw him $20 or something. I don't know anything about International transfers or the expenses involved, though.

In any case, I suppose the bright side is that he's not totally paralyzed and there's hope that he can recover. I suppose he'll probably never fight again. But you never know.