Former UFC fighter and current Combate Americas athlete Angela Magana has slipped into a coma following complications from surgery.
A member from Magana’s team revealed the news on her Twitter account after she was hospitalized from emergency surgery after experiencing a herniated disc in her back during training camp.
Magana was training for an upcoming fight in her Combate Americas debut before suffering the injury that forced her into surgery in Puerto Rico where she currently resides.
“What happened to Angela, she herniated a disc while training for fight, she went for a nerve block to continue training. Nerve block caused a rare nuerological disorder, cauda equina, rushed to emergency nuero surgery and hasn’t woken since surgery this AM currently in a coma,” Magana’s team wrote on her Twitter account following the surgery.
“Angela still unresponsive I will be here in the ICU at hospital as nuero team works on this. Remember life is so short and can change in a blink of an eye!”
Cauda equina is described as “compression (squeezing) of the cauda equina–the sac of nerves and nerve roots at the base and just below the spinal cord in the lumbosacral spinal canal. It is a rare but serious disorder, and a medical emergency.”
Following this news, Combate Americas released a statement regarding Magana’s condition.
“We are closely following the progress of Angela Magana who is currently in a coma following complications from emergency surgery,” a Combate Americas spokeperson said in a statement provided to MMANews.
“Our team is in direct contact with her coach. Angela is a true fighter, and we are staying positive that she will fight her way out of this.”
Magana was originally scheduled to compete for Combate Americas on April 26 in her debut until she suffered the injury that put her out of the fight and into the hospital.
Now she remains hospitalized in a coma with her team providing updates as they become available.
