Boxing

Alejandra Ayala asks, “What good is £50,000 to a dead boxer?”

THIS time final 12 months Mexico’s Alejandra Ayala was on her means again to Tijuana having had a keep in Glasgow, Scotland inconveniently (and for a whereas unknowingly) prolonged.

Keen to get residence, however keener nonetheless to stay alive, Ayala fought Hannah Rankin on May 13, after which, following a bleed on the mind, discovered herself having to combat a far larger opponent within the subsequent hours, days, and weeks.

That combat, as is usually the case, has now been extended. No longer merely hours, days, and weeks, it is a combat that has stretched to months and shortly it is going to be years. Still, although, Ayala, a lady enlightened and enlivened for having cheated demise, manages to pressure a smile.

“I’m quite happy,” she instructed Boxing News from her residence in Tijuana. “Ever since coming again and having this second alternative in life, I’ve been comfortable on the whole. Even with all of the sometimes-stressful issues which can be occurring, I nonetheless really feel very blessed.

“I am happy to be with my husband, my family, and my dog. I’ve been back in my gym, too. Not every day and only for a limited time, but doing that also makes me very happy.”

One suspects it takes a lot to get Ayala down. The 34-year-old’s capability to recall particulars, names and locations could have taken a hit on account of what occurred to her final 12 months, but her grasp on perspective and her potential to give attention to what is essential in life has solely elevated.

“I’ve been doing a lot of therapy for talking,” she stated. “My first language has been English since I used to be 5 years outdated, so my potential to converse English has improved shortly. But my Spanish isn’t what it was. I’m nonetheless engaged on that. They reckon perhaps six extra months on that, which is good as a result of initially they stated it will take two years.

“Before the incident I had a YouTube channel where I would talk about the fights and analyse them but I haven’t been able to do that again because it’s difficult for me to remember names. Names have been the most difficult thing for me to remember. I’ll know in my head who I am talking about, but I won’t be able to say their name.”

Ayala holds up her copy of Boxing News

To hear to her converse, you’d by no means know Ayala had endured a lot 12 months in the past in a overseas nation. However, it is in fact straightforward, when listening to her converse over the cellphone, and along with her so far-off, to trick your self into believing all the things is rosy and again to regular. The fact is, it is day-to-day that Ayala’s life, notably in current occasions, turns into a check and is nowhere close to as straightforward as she makes it sound.

“When I left Glasgow, I was told I didn’t have anything within my head that would cause the epileptic spasms I have been suffering recently,” she defined. “I didn’t have one till round September of final 12 months. Basically, I simply received actually dizzy and began listening to issues. But I didn’t fall over. So I contacted my neurologist over right here and we did a lot of research.

“Just final month I then had one other match and this time I did fall over. I used to be having lunch with my husband, which was good, however that had by no means occurred to me earlier than and so we have been all fairly scared. We went to the physician and he gave me research. We contacted the physician I had in Glasgow and he stated it’s not widespread however typically it occurs. Right now, I’m working with the physician, who has given me some medicine, however I’ve been instructed this could possibly be a difficulty for 2 to three years.

“The problem is, we live alone. My family doesn’t live in Tijuana with me. My husband’s mum and brother live here but not with us. So, when he’s working and I’m alone, that’s a problem. The other problem, too, is that I wanted to go back to work, at least a little bit, but now it looks like it’s going to be six more months before I can do that.”

As properly as being unable to work, Ayala, regardless of enhancing bodily, has not been in a position to practice as she would love. “I couldn’t train,” she stated, “because of all the head movement involved and I also couldn’t run because of the head movement involved. I could only do basic workouts. For a while my head would hurt a little bit so I would need to sit down and give myself time to rest.”

Wary of each complications and pointless pressure utilized to that space, Ayala is solely too conscious that a difficulty with the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) hardly helps such issues. However, since leaving Glasgow final June she has tried, up to now with out success, to procure from the Board some insurance coverage cash solely to expertise frustration, in addition to the sensation of being forgotten.

“During that time in Glasgow the people who were helping me out told me that once I left the country the BBBC would not care about me,” Ayala stated. “I’ve not been in touch with the BBBC since, however my dad has. Now that I’m in a position to learn and comprehend, he has despatched me a number of the messages, and, principally, after we got here again, they stated they’d go and look into it. Then, perhaps six months in, my dad contacted them to ask what was occurring. They requested us to ship all of them the research I had had achieved so my dad despatched them. We waited a little longer after which they despatched us not offended messages however messages that primarily stated to us, ‘When we know, we’ll let you recognize. Stop messaging us.’

“They instructed us that if I had handed away, it will have been simpler for them to ship the cash, which was 50,000 kilos. But as a result of I survived and since I’m doing properly, it is going to be even much less. For me, that hurts a little bit. If that’s their best, that’s not good.

“After a year, my dad messaged them again and they again asked us to report back how I was doing. He sent them details of the spasm I suffered in May and they said that in six weeks they would let us know.”

For the time being, then, Ayala can do not more than wait.

“The BBBC head office has been in regular communication with Alejandra’s father, Vince, and advised of the insurance process, which unfortunately takes time,” stated Robert Smith, the Board’s General Secretary, in an e mail to Boxing News on Monday (June 26). “Mr Ayala has been knowledgeable that the Board’s insurance coverage firm is contemplating all medical documentation together with their medical guide with regard to the potential of an insurance coverage declare and we’re awaiting a determination to see if she is coated with the kind of accidents acquired. This is regular process.

“We understand Alejandra is not insured by her home commission.”

As the wait goes on, in fact, so the payments pile up.

“I’ve probably spent around 30,000 dollars so far on my recovery,” Ayala revealed. “We don’t have the perfect neurologists and therapists in Tijuana, so I’ve to go to Mexico City for that. I can’t fly alone, so my husband has to fly with me, and he has to take day without work work to do it. He is a policeman, which implies it is tough for him to try this. I believed I’d be again working by now – perhaps performing some matchmaking, or working with the fee – however due to the epileptic matches I received’t give you the option to try this for a whereas.

“I now don’t know what to do. I’m feeling frustrated. I’m not even asking for a lot. If they could just help me out a bit, it would mean so much. I just want to pay off my debts and continue getting better.”

As for the idea of a boxer and their household receiving compensation within the occasion of demise, Ayala greets it with a chuckle. She does so as a result of to chuckle is preferable to crying. “If I had passed away in Glasgow,” she stated, “my parents wouldn’t care about receiving any money.”

Ayala within the fitness center


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