Illustration courtesy of ShomanArt.com.

We’ve been following the tragic death of former UFC heavyweight fighter Gilbert Aldana these past few weeks.

Yesterday, we received a note from someone close to his grieving family, and we figured the least we could do is pass it along.

Here it is:

Dear Friends and UFC/MMA/RITC Family,

As many of you know we experienced a tragic accident two Sundays ago on March 11, 2007. For those of you who do not know we took our boat out onto Lake Pleasant, AZ with Dave’s best friend Gilbert and his family.

Gilbert’s shirt flew into the water and he went in to get it. He immediately showed signs of struggling and Dave jumped in to help. After several types of attempts to rescue Gil we were unable to save him and he went under. The investigators believe he went into shock from the cold water and was unable to move his arms and legs. Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful after two and a half weeks of searching to find his body. The Sheriff’s Department has called off the search. David’s refuses to stop searching though. Valley Protective Services has hired a gentleman who has been involved with High Profile water recoveries (including Lacy Peterson) to Continue the search. Daily, there are 20-30 family members standing on the shore of the Lake, waiting for news. Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers. We are trying to raise money for Gil’s family (his wife and two young boys) to help pay the bills since Gil was the sole income for the family. Gilbert was also an employee of our company. Christina, Gil’s wife, stays home with the boys and spends time taking Jr. their oldest, who has Autism, to his therapy sessions. We are hoping that donations will help her out for awhile so she can continue for a bit to say home with the boys. A memorial fund has been unable to be set up due to the fact that they have not released a death certificate. Therefore, Dave’s company has set up a Bank of America account in Christina’s name for now. If you are interested please send a check to: Christina Aldana c/o Valley Protective Services, Inc. P.O. Box 11568 Chandler, AZ 85248 We will deposit it into her account. No amount is too small. Think about the cup of change you probably have laying around and go cash it in! If you have any questions give me a call or email me. Please forward this to anyone who you feel may be interested in helping out. –Carolyn Connant