On Saturday, MMA fighter Jessica Bednark was taken to the hospital with a severe head injury.
The following is taken directly from another source (wfighter.com). I'm sure they'll understand:
Jessica is a professional female fighter, with a record of 5-2-0 at 135lbs. She was scheduled to fight June 12th against AJ Jenkins and was training when this happened.
I was informed by her camp that she does NOT have medical insurance and depended on her job for her training and bills. We need to come together right now and help Jessica. Her family was extremely grateful that we have posted bulletins, but now as a fighter community, we need to extend a helping hand. Hit your sponsors as well.......
PLEASE SEND ALL DONATIONS and cards to:
Derek Gould
15824 Neon St NW
Ramsey MN
55303
Jessica you are a fighter with heart and courage, you will pull out of this. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers please."
Taken from MMAOpinion.com:
Update: Jessica’s boyfriend Jay Gould reports that “everything is going as well as planned, so far.” Jessica had a catscan this morning, and her brain was where doctors hoped it would be. She is scheduled to have the piece of her skill put back in at 10:30 tomorrow morning, after which the doctors will try to wake her up.
Update (5/28/09): Jessica is now moving. She can sit up and open her eyes, respond to her name, etc. She knows who everyone is, remembers birthdates and other relevant information. Her breathing tube and pressure monitor to her brain have been removed. The doctors are waiting until she is awake for 48 hours for her to gain full consciousness before putting the piece of her skull back in.
Update: (6/28/09) Here's an update from Jessica (taken from her Myspace page)
I really have no memory of that day or the week after it. But anyhow, it must have been some kind of fluke incident. I've been sparring for the last 9 years taking all kinds of heavy blows to the head and now this- ok here it goes.
So what happened is my brain started bleeding. My pupils got all huge and my brain stem was getting all crowded with blood. They said I almost died but the did emergency surgery and drained all that extra blood out of my skull. A few days later they did another surgery and patched my skull back up. So now my head is all shaven and I've got a whole bunch of staples in my head.
My memory was pretty much wiped starting on saturday and going till a week after my surgery. Jay just brought me up to speed a few days ago. He told me how I almost died and how he was really scared and then he told me the doctor said no more fighting. I've never been heart broken before but this must be what it feels like. I still can't even think about it without crying. If they told me I could never compete again maybe I could deal with that, but they don't want me getting hit in the head. No more sparring. This is what I've loved doing more than anything else for the past 9 years. I don"t even know what I'm gonna do with myself when I get out of this hospital.
Jay suggested I take up jujitsu hardcore, which I suppose I will do, but you don't get to punch anybody in the face in jujitsu. I've always loved sparring, just goin at it hard. I don't know what I'm gonna do.
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Loss.
Not being able to train is one of those fears that lingers on the periphery. It would be, without any risk of overstatement, as Jessica said, "heartbreaking." I'm sure you can empathize.
It's easy to miss a day or take a lazy week or two when you know you have the ability to go back to it. It's easy to take things, like training, that are such an important part of our lives for granted. Things that are such a feature of our lives or that are the basis of our lifestyle are assumed to be something we have control over. The thought of losing that control is terrifying.
I hope Jessica finds an outlet in Jiu-Jitsu and it gives her peace and a new passion moving forward.
Help.
It's my understanding that this type of injury is not very common, but unfortunately the lack of good medical coverage is less of a rarity. I've recently checked into non-profits and other organizations that assist with medical coverage for other professions (HAAM in Austin for example). It's a topic for us to discuss in the near future, but for now please see if there's anything you can do to get the word out and help Jessica.
There's a Paypal set-up in her name: helpforjessica@twincities.mn - It only takes a minute to send her a little assistance and anything you can send will help.
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