A former mixed martial arts competitor has shared her devastating journey from professional athlete to homelessness, revealing she resorted to s** work to purchase cigarettes.
Eduarda Neves Santana, known professionally as ‘Duda Cowboyzinha’, competed professionally until 2020, when she was released from her contract after testing positive for prohibited substances. The Brazilian athlete had shown promise with three victories and one loss during her brief career after signing in 2019.
However, Santana’s life took a dramatic turn during the pandemic when quarantine restrictions led to financial hardship. In a recently surfaced video from three years ago, she describes her descent into homelessness and substance dependency.
“The family also doesn’t understand that this is a disease, it’s not a dirty trick… This (habit) is very sad,” she says in the video, according to Globo.
Speaking candidly about her struggles, Santana explains: “Sometimes I go days and days without smoking, I start to get excited, ‘I’m going to fight again!’ Then any little thing makes me depressed, I start using (–) again.”
She continues with a warning to others: “Follow your dream, don’t listen to ‘buddies’, avoid dr*gs. ‘Oh, I only smoke a skunk, I only smoke a joint’, ‘oh, a joint is natural’… Brother… It starts like this… Then it becomes like, pr**tituting yourself for dr*gs.”
The former athlete reveals the extent of her situation: “To get the stuff from the competition, which was expensive, I didn’t have any sponsorship, it was just me with myself, you know? Today I pr**titute myself to buy a pack of 20, to buy a cigarette.”
The video shows Santana receiving assistance from an evangelical church, which provided food support. Her former colleagues also united to help her purchase groceries.
“God took everything from me, like job, but one day he will give me everything back,” she added. “He is testing me like he tested Jesus in the desert, like he tested Daniel. But one day this story will have a happy ending. Wait for my return.”
Santana’s current whereabouts and situation remain unknown, as her social media accounts have been inactive since 2018.
