Samoan born Simon “Sy” Leafa had undergone multiple brain surgeries following a Muay Thai bout in Thailand last week.
A member of Melbourne’s Resilience Training Centre, Leafa secured a sponsorship to train at Absolute MMA in Thailand where he has been based recently. He competed on the WBC Muaythai sanctioned card at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Monday, 9 September. Following the bout, Leafa was transported to a local hospital where the brain bleed was detected. He immediately was operated on and since then has had a further operation. The 23-year-old remains in a coma.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to medically transferred back to Australia along with a medical team.
Multiple local fighters have thrown their support to the cause. As has former UFC interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum who is believed to have donated $1,000 to the cause. Gastelum trained alongside Leafa as he was preparing in Melbourne for the bout against Whittaker which was cancelled.
As of publishing over $17,000 has been donated only 8 hours into the campaign, with a goal of $30,000 set.
Donations can be made at GoFundMe – Help Get Sy Home
