Shane Del Rosario Has Not Passed Away, Remains on Life Support
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Shane Del Rosario remains on life support after suffering what doctors termed a "catastrophic cardiovascular collapse" at his California home on Tuesday.
Del Rosario was not responsive when discovered by his roommate and friend Ian McCall on Tuesday morning. McCall, who fights in the UFC's flyweight division and trained with Del Rosario at Colin Oyama's gym, called 911 and administered CPR.
On Wednesday evening, doctors at Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., used the Arctic Sun Treatment System on Del Rosario. The system is designed to induce a hypothermic state on the body that reportedly can help restart damaged organs and restore brain function.
Sources close to Del Rosario told Bleacher Report that Del Rosario still had no brain function when the Arctic Sun treatment was completed.
Del Rosario, 30, remained on life support on Thursday, even as erroneous reports of his death began circulating via social media. The family decided to keep him on life support in the hopes of a "miracle" occurring, and were planning to make what was described as a "final decision" today (Friday).
Del Rosario was born and raised in Southern California, where he began training as a fighter at 17 years old with Marco Ruas. He became a world champion kickboxer before transitioning to mixed martial arts, and made his
MMA debut in 2006 for the King of the Cage promotion. He ran up an undefeated record for KOTC, M-1 and Strikeforce before a car accident left him badly injured in 2011. He was out of action for over a year, but eventually returned to the cage.
Del Rosario signed with the UFC in May 2012, but lost two consecutive fights to Stipe Miocic and Pat Barry. He was expected to return in July against Dave Herman, but an injury forced him to withdraw from the bout. He was booked to return yet again at December's UFC 168 event, but a rib injury forced him to withdraw.