Washington dad Aidan Woodley handed in his notice at Nissan a week last Friday in order to go full time as a personal trainer and coach.
Hours later, the jiu-jitsu fighter's leg was broken in two places and he knew he was facing a tough winter to pay his bills amid a cost-of-living crisis. However, friends and opponents alike on the jiu-jitsu scene have stepped up - raising more than £5,000, and counting, to help him through the lengthy rehab needed.
And Aidan, 28, is still looking forward to getting started as a full-time PT. Even if just a month or three later than he had planned.
Aidan - who fights at the North East Jiu-Jitsu gym, also in Washington - was fighting in the headline bout at the Northern Submission series when the shocking injury took place. Muscular and ligament injuries are more common in the sport, but on this occasion the pressure of a tight fight had a brutal result - his tibia and fibia were both broken.
"it's so rare to have an injury that's in the bone," he told ChronicleLive. "And in your knee or ankle there's usually a sign so you can tap out. This one was pretty sharp."
Aidan had just made a bold life decision - handing in his notice at Nissan's factory with the plan to be self-employed as a trainer. "The day before it happened. In that way it could not be a worse time. Getting back, it could take six weeks for my leg to be weight-bearing, but then there's the whole rehabilitation stage. I don't really know but it could well be three months.
"As I was sitting waiting to go into surgery I was thinking how bad it could be. I've a wife and son and bills to pay. I can't believe it's just after I handed in my notice."
However, Aidan's friends at North East Jiu-Jitsu had thought ahead - and set up a crowdfunding campaign to help Aidan and his family get through Christmas and his rehab period. He said he had no idea until he came out of surgery and got his phone back.
"I was coming around from surgery and my phone was just blowing up. I was totally taken aback by it. It's support not just from the gym but from people all over the country. I've had messages from people in America even."
He said the support - especially from his opponent in the fight in question David Weston, who had been in touch repeatedly - was a massive difference, and that the fundraising was a weight of his shoulders ahead of Christmastime, especially as he has son Isaac to think about too.
"It's a massive relief to have this support. I can't thank the people who've donated and sent support enough," Aidan added. "I see stuff like this online but you never think it's going to happen to you. As I was getting into the ambulance it sunk in - it's not going to be a quick fix. These things are pretty bad."
Fellow North East fighter Ross Taylor helped set up the fundraising page. He said: "What's happened to Aidan is not the typical injury you get, but for whatever reason both of the bones have been snapped. Obviously afterwards we were in the gym and we we thought we could have a whip-around. And then we thought about a GoFundMe.
"The jiu-jitsu community around the North East, but also in the UK, is really close - everyone knows everyone and everyone looks out for each other. We just thought if we could raise enough to cover his bills for a couple of months we could take away that strain."
To support the GoFundMe, visit gf.me/v/c/9z2d/support-aidan-woodleys-recovery
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