PFL star Stevie Ray is desperate to win the promotion's illustrious $1million prize so he can pay for his daughter Myla's brain surgery.
Ray, 33, makes his second run at the PFL lightweight title this year having lost out to Olivier Aubin-Mercier in last year's final. The Scot was planning to use a large portion of his seven-figure payday for his daughter's surgery, but his dream of becoming a millionaire was crushed when Aubin-Mercier knocked him out in the second round of their fight.
Unsure if 2023 could mark his last year competing in the cage, Ray is making one last run at the PFL world title and his daughter's life-threatening condition is extra motivation for his upcoming fights. Ray's daughter Myla, who turns eight next month, first suffered from a seizure in 2019 and was diagnosed with epilepsy the following year. Myla's health recently took a turn for the worst and doctors have told Ray's family that she will need brain surgery to cure her condition.
"Her health really deteriorated before my last fight," Ray told Mirror Fighting. "We got the bad news that Myla has something wrong with her brain. We've just found out what's going with her seizures is called cortical dysplasia. Doctors have said she needs surgery or she's at a high chance of dying in her sleep.
"Myla is medicine intolerant, so the medicine will never solve her epilepsy. In children, 80 per cent of them will be on medicine for epilepsy and it's fine. Unfortunately for the other 20 per cent it won't work and Myla is in that bracket. She's in a wheelchair now, it's tough. The thing is, she can be running about completely normal, next thing she's had a seizure and then she can't walk."
Ray has set up a GoFundMe to help raise funds for his daughter's surgery, with notable donations to the cause coming from UFC boss Dana White, who donated £10,000, whilst the PFL also donated a massive £15,000. Former UFC fighter and PFL champion Sean O'Connell selflessly donated £4,000 whilst there have also been contributions from fighters such as Shane Burgos, Angela Hill and Leah McCourt.
Day-to-day life has been hard for Myla since the start of the year as she hasn't been able to complete a full week at school because of her seizures. Ray admitted that preparing for a fight has been tough due to his daughter's condition, but his family are confident that a better quality of life is waiting for their daughter.
"They will remove part of her brain in the surgery, from seeing it on the MRI it looked like the size of a golf ball," Ray added. "Obviously that comes with potential consequences, I think doctors said there's a three per cent chance she can die during the surgery and a seven per cent chance she can become paralysed, because they are operating close to the frontal lobe. It's a lot to take in."
You can help raise money for Myla's brain surgery by donating to Ray's family fundraiser here.
