In addition to raising money to help defer costs of medical treatment, LTF is doing something that I like to call “MMA Wish Granting” For instance, we are sending select beneficiaries to a fight or to meet their favorite fighters. Our first MMA Wish Granting beneficiary was Ashely Rollo.
We sent Ashley and her boyfriend to UFC 169 at the Prudential Center in NJ. Ashley is currently undergoing tests and treatment for a type of blood cancer. She’s a huge MMA fan and until recently, she was practicing BJJ. Before the fights she said to me, “Sometimes the mental stress is worse. I can honestly say it’s the only thing I’ve been looking forward to in a long time. A night to forget about being sick and just be me for a night.”
Often times when you are sick with a life-threatening illness your life becomes your disease. I remember for the longest time being “Kristen with cancer, instead of just being Kristen” Your sickness defines you. It becomes your world. LTF wants to take people out of that world; even if it’s just for a little while.
When it was all over she said, “I didn’t want it to end. It was the best night of my life.” – Kristen Brown
