Support Joel Paique

My name is Joel Paique and I am a professional Muay Thai fighter from Argentina. In February 2020, I moved to Phuket, Thailand, to pursue my dream – a career in fighting. One month later the pandemic hit and the entire world shut down. For me, it meant all gyms and stadiums were closed, and all fights were cancelled. When I finally started fighting again, my arm was broken in a televised fight in November. It took one year to recover and I received no support from my gym at the time or from the organiser, I only had the financial support of my girlfriend.

Fights no longer pay what they used to, and we have been struggling financially for the last two years, but refused to ask for help as I know the crisis has been devastating to the people around me, too. I just started fighting again when the next devastating news came…
Due to sudden law changes, I was unable to get a new visa and had to leave Thailand immediately, leaving behind my girlfriend, our home, our pets, and my dream of fighting. Any savings we had were drained again to get me out of the country.
During my trip back to Argentina came the next blow…
In Italy, I was forced to take another expensive PCR test, and then told that I was missing a document to enter Argentina. They stopped me from boarding my flight. As this happened late at night, all airline offices were closed and the airport emptied of staff, leaving me to my own fate until morning.

Due to lack of funds, I could only buy a one-way ticket to Argentina, where I would finally see my family and son after being separated for 2 years. My visa costs 32,000 baht, and flight tickets are adding up to over 100,000 baht.
Amounting to well over 130,000 baht, it is an impossible cost for us to carry, as my girlfriend still has to pay for her own visa to stay in the country. That is why I am trying to raise funds to cover my visa and flight costs so that I can return to Thailand and continue fighting.

I am grateful for any donations, no matter how small, to help get me back to my life and career in Thailand. Fighting is my dream and always has been, and I have been working hard for over 13 years trying to become a top fighter.
If you are not able to donate, I understand and respect that, and would be equally grateful if you could share this on all social media channels that you have access to.
Thank you for helping me on my fight journey.
Sincerely,
Joel

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