UFC featherweight Matt Grice was in a horrible car accident on September 8th that left him with very severe injuries. He was rear-ended by someone at high speed while waiting at a red light and had to undergo brain surgery to save his life. He will go back in for another surgery on December 8th to re-attach the part of the skull they had to remove immediately after the accident. Grice was a recent guest on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, and discussed the entire incident. Some of the stuff is really hard to read, but a lot of it is tremendously inspirational as well.
On the hardest moment after he woke up from a medically-induced coma:
"I woke up, and I didn't remember being married and didn't remember having kids. It really shook me up. So they brought someone in and explained everything and showed me pictures. Now I remember almost everything, it just threw me for a loop and I just started bawling right then and there."
On what he knows about the accident:
"I don't remember the accident at all," Grice said. "I guess I got rear-ended and the guy went 65 MPH. He never hit his brakes or anything and he hit me going 65. ... He said he was distracted by his grandkids. Luckily they were OK, I think one of them hurt their nose or something. They ended up being alright. He wasn't paying attention apparently. It was a stoplight you could see almost for a mile. How he was distracted that long, I don't know."
How he finally understood the gravity of his injuries:
"One of the nurses in rehab, she was looking at my chart, she said you're just a walking miracle, reading your chart and talking to you, I can't even explain how much of a miracle you are to be where you're at. I'm just blessed by God to be moving like I am."
Grice is also a police officer, and he said that his department is holding a position for him to return to, but what it will be will depend on his recovery. Remarkably, Grice won't even rule out a return to the octagon:
"I talked to one of the doctors and it depends on putting the skull back in and how it all does," Grice said. "Like I said, I'm only two months into this deal and it's surprising how along I am already, so they're not ruling anything out. I'm hoping yeah, I'd love to fight again. That's what I do, I enjoy what I do, it's fun and I just love competing, I hope I can do it again."
From everyone at Bloody Elbow, we wish Matt continued success in his recovery. If you'd like to continue seeing how Grice is coming along, you can check out this Facebook page maintained by his wife.