MMA fighter Angela Lee says her 2017 car crash was a suicide attempt, confirms sister Victoria took her own life

Warning: This story discusses suicide and contains descriptions of a suicide attempt.

SINGAPORE: Mixed martial arts (MMA) champion Angela Lee revealed on Tuesday (Sep 19) that her 2017 car crash in Hawaii was a suicide attempt.

She also confirmed that her sister Victoria, who died last year at the age of 18, took her own life.

The revelations were made in an article Lee wrote for the Players' Tribune, a website that publishes first-person stories from athletes.

Subscribe to CNA's Recommended Read

A single handpicked story that we think you shouldn't miss. Just one a day.

This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners.

Loading

"It's taken me a long time to get to this place, but I've now reached a point where I am comfortable and confident enough to speak the full truth," she wrote in the article titled Resilient.

"Six years ago, I tried to end my life. My car crash in November 2017 was not an accident. It was a suicide attempt," she said in an emotional account of her struggles.

Lee was 20 years old in 2017. 

She had become the youngest female ONE Championship world champion the year before and defended her title twice in 2017. She got engaged and was looking forward to a wedding.

However, as another title defence approached, she began to struggle.

"I had gotten to a place where making weight for that fight was the biggest thing in the world to me. I told myself: If you don't get this done, you'll lose everything," she wrote, adding that this mentality is a double-edged sword for athletes.

"And, with me, I got to a point where I had pushed my mind and body too far."

Lee eventually reached a point where she felt like she would rather take herself out of the fight than fail to make weight for it, adding: "I didn't want to be a disappointment to anyone."

Describing the moments before the car crash on Nov 6, 2017 – less than three weeks before her scheduled fight against Mei Yamaguchi in Singapore – Lee said it was "the longest night" of her life.

She tried to hurt herself at home before heading out at about 4am and driving towards a mountainside road nearby.

When she opened her eyes after the crash, she was upside down and surrounded by shattered glass. She was rescued from her car by passing motorists.

Lee did not end up fighting Yamaguchi in November 2017, although she wrote that she did attend the event where their bout had been scheduled as a co-main event.

The two would eventually fight the following May, with Lee returning to defend her title once again.

Angela, Victoria and their brother Christian Lee all fought at ONE Championship events representing Singapore and the United States.

Angela is ONE's reigning atomweight MMA world champion and Christian currently holds the promotion's lightweight and welterweight MMA titles, although neither has featured in a fight since Victoria's death in December 2022.

Victoria had earned a 3-0 record during her time with ONE, winning all three fights in 2021.

A fourth sibling, Adrian, is an up-and-coming martial artist.

Their parents Ken Lee and Jewelz Lee are lifelong martial artists who have run their own gyms for decades in both the US and Canada. 

THE HEALING PROCESS

Angela Lee said that the only person who knew the truth about the 2017 incident was her husband, Bruno Pucci.

It would take her a long time to heal after the incident as she dealt with anxiety, emotional instability and panic attacks while also not being able to open up about what had really happened.

Breathing exercises, writing and spending time outdoors helped her with the process.

"Beyond that, I let time do most of the work. And, you know what … as the days passed, things slowly got better. And I feel like the more I talk with people about what I've been through, the more healing occurs," she wrote.

Lee said that she still has many tough days, but is better at coping with them.

"The more I think about it, the more I believe that I am still here today so that I can share my story with you," she continued.

"There may be someone out there right now who is struggling the same way I was struggling. Maybe by hearing this, they can see that this does not have to be the end. That there is hope."

VICTORIA LEE'S LEGACY

Lee then turned to the topic of Fightstory, a non-profit organisation she started in March this year aimed at helping people with mental health struggles.

Victoria's death had inspired her to set up the organisation, Lee said as she confirmed that her sister died by suicide.

"Fightstory was inspired by Victoria and the remarkable life that she lived at just 18 years old. Fightstory is just as much hers as it is mine. It's something we created together, to save lives and to try and make the world a better place. We want people to know that although you may feel lonely in your fight with mental health, you are not alone," Lee wrote.

Describing suicide as "a fatal result of a restricted perspective", Lee noted that when someone takes their own life, it devastates everyone who knew them.

She concluded her story with a message of hope for those encountering thoughts of suicide.

"Your life does matter. The world is a better place with you here. Better days can come. They are right around the corner. The light will find you if you look for it. Hold on to hope and the possibility of tomorrow," she wrote.

"Sooner or later things will get better, and when that day happens, you will be grateful that you chose to stay. There are so many surprises that your future holds. Life still has so much in store for you."