Adrienne Simmons, a local fighter who has trained at
several Atlanta gyms and fought locally, has passed
away after fighting this weekend in Florida.
Khunpon Dechkampu of Bangkok Boxing Gym, on his way to
Florida, confirmed to David Oblas of
GeorgiaFighters.com at 9 pm tonight that
unfortunately Adrienne passed away.
Adrienne
was competing in the IKF Kickboxing Tournament in
Florida this past weekend and had made it to the
Championship bout for her weight class. She was
knocked out and unresponsive. She was then rushed to
the hospital and had surgery for brain bleeding and
swelling and went into a coma.
We’ve since learned
from an interview with Adrienne’s boyfriend, Chike
Lindsay, that there was no ambulance on site at the
event and that Adrienne had to wait 30 minutes to be
airlifted to a hospital. According to the interview
with Chike, it took nearly an hour from the time that
Adrienne was injured until she finally arrived at the
hospital.
Adrienne’s fight was against Lindsay Scheer, a Muay
Thai fighter from Kentucky who has fought in Atlanta
several times.
On his Facebook, Lindsay’s coach Eric Haycraft, who
has been deeply involved in the sport of Muay Thai for
many years, posted the following:
Lindsay and I had wanted to wait for more official
announcements about the tragic turn of events this
weekend at the IKF Kickboxing tournament in Orlando.
It seems that several websites are already mentioning
the event and of course facebook has exploded with
rumors and comments. We have known Adrienne for a
number of years. I have many ties with the entire
Atlanta fight scene and the ladies had been following
each other both at fights and online.
There were five girls in the Open division of the
130-140 Muay Thai. Lindsay had to fight three times
over the weekend and Adrienne fought twice to meet
each other on Sunday in the finals. Adrienne had a
very tough fight on Saturday to get her to her finals
match.
The bout itself seemed normal enough on
all fronts. Lindsay, the more experienced of the two,
took control of the bout scoring an eight count on the
very first jab thrown. Several seconds later a
standing eight count was given and the round drew to a
close. Round two continued with more of the same,
however Adrienne never stopped trying and never gave
up. No eight counts this round. The third round opened
up and Lindsay landed a three punch combo that ended
the bout. The ref waived the bout off immediately and
the doctors who were already sitting ringside watching
the bout were in the ring right away.
It
really just seemed like a normal bout. It was a heavy
shot but everyone involved from the ref to the doctors
and officials and myself had no reason to believe
there was anything abnormal except a fighter getting
their bell rung like we all have had at some point in
our careers.
Adrienne came to, we were right
there as she sat up and spoke. Confirming our thoughts
that this was to be no different than any other bout
ending blow. Adrienne was taken to the back and
attended to by the medical staff and we took care of
the stuff we had to after the bout such as photos and
such.
We shortly after were told along with
everyone that Adrienne had been airlifted out.
The events that unfold from here are very sad and
in my twenty years of kickboxing I am ill prepared to
explain or even handle well. We have had opportunities
to speak with the ref, the doctors all the ringside
officials and the burden and second guessing after the
case is huge. Our sadness and inability to properly
process all these events leaves us with no words.
My only hope is that Chike has the same support
network in his community that we have here in ours and
that he will have it in his heart to let us be a part
of his extended support network. This is a life
changing event for all involved but obviously most of
all for Chike and Adrienne.
We love this sport
with all our hearts. It is a game with risks and while
we all know this, these risks seem so far removed. Let
me make this clear...no one could have seen this
coming. The ref, the doctors, us, her corner. No one.
It is a horrible accident that happened at a sporting
event.
We do not have all the latest news from
Florida and until it is officially announced by
Adrienne's people please please be respectful of the
things that are posted. It is a very sad day. We love
you Adrienne.
With Heavy Hearts,
Eric and Lindsay
WKA USA would like to extend our prayers for Adrienne
her friends and loved ones, and our deepest
condolences to all those close to her during this
painful and difficult period. All of us in the combat
sports community will certainly feel the loss of such
a talented and outstanding presence as Adrienne.
