In December 2022, ONE atomweight MMA athlete Victoria Lee unexpectedly passed away at the age of 18.
Now, in an emotional and heartfelt video, Lee’s older sister – longtime ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Angela Lee – reveals that Victoria’s death was a result of suicide and explains what she is doing to combat such tragedies happening to other young athletes.
Lee also bravely revealed that she survived a 2017 suicide attempt herself.
At the time, reports only indicated that she had been in a car accident, as she did not share her secret with anyone other than her husband, former ONE athlete Bruno Pucci.
She said in the video released Tuesday:
“It’s been six years, and although I’ve done a lot of growing and healing since then, it’s still difficult to think about, let alone talk about…
“Because I survived, it was difficult to go on and live life as normal because no one really knew what had happened.”
In the wake of Victoria’s passing – and given her own struggles with mental health – Angela took action.
Earlier this year, she created the non-profit organization Fightstory:
“Fightstory is a mental health non-profit organization created by combat athletes for fighters of all walks of life to share their story, inspire hope, and build a community for all to thrive in their mental and physical wellness journey. We believe stories can save lives.”
Lee says that Fightstory is a way of carrying on Victoria’s legacy – and of building something positive in the aftermath of a devastating tragedy.
She added:
“Fightstory was created because of Victoria. She was the most selfless person I knew. She would want her passing to mean something, to save lives.”
Angela Lee To Make Announcement On Her Future At ONE Fight Night 14
As she continues to mourn the loss of her younger sister, Angela Lee has remained largely out of the public eye over the past nine months.
Given her absence, an Interim Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title has been created, and it will be up for grabs between Stamp Fairtex and Ham Seo Hee in the main event of ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video on September 29.
Lee is expected to appear at the show in Singapore, where she will share plans for the future of her MMA career.
