Amidst the clamor in Ireland to denounce MMA as a sport following the death of Joao Carvalho last week, very little has been mentioned about the 28-year-old's family.
The Portuguese fighter died at Beaumont hospital last Monday night due to injuries sustained during his Total Extreme Fighting 1 bout with Irishman Charlie Ward two days previously.
Once a post-mortem of Carvalho is completed, his body will be returned to his native country. The repatriation of a body does not come cheaply. It would usually cost around €3,500.
However, Carvalho's family will not have to take that burden. Dublin undertaker Justin Fitzgerald has stepped in to offer his services. He will provide the coffin, embalming and transport along with taking care of all required paperwork.
He told The Herald:
I'm a big fan of the sport, and when everything happened I was in the position where I was able to look after the family, and that's why I did it.
At 28 years of age he probably had no life insurance or anything, so I was able to help out.
The only thing I have to do is send him on a plane across the water to the undertaker in Portugal to look after.
Fitzgerald, who trains in MMA at the Rush Fight Academy, spoke with Carvalho's family last week.
I've been in contact with them since last week and I sat down and talked with them and went through everything.
I don't think they are fully aware of what is actually happening at the moment because of the shock of what happened last week.
