Earlier this week, video surfaced of a teenaged boy in the UK being aggressively bullied by his peers. It was revealed that the teen was a Syrian refugee and that his sister was also the target of bullying in the school.
Now, Rener and Ryron Gracie have put out a video on Gracie Breakdown explaining that they want to help the students receive proper training to defend themselves. They’ve set up a GoFundMe (which has already raised nearly $7,000 in about six hours) to help fund travel expenses so that the siblings can come to the US and train at Gracie University.
Similar initiatives by the academy have yielded successful results for other students who were dealing with bullying problems. Rener and Ryron had previously funded these endeavors alone, and Rener told the Jiu-Jitsu Times that he’s been asked this time around why he’s crowdsourcing the travel expenses. “That’s how we’ve always done it, but every time the transformation is complete, people in the jiu-jitsu community always say, ‘Next time let me know how I can help?’ Well, this is their chance! Together we’re going to save this kid’s life!”
Ryron, Rener, and the rest of the team at Gracie University are donating the training time, and 100 percent of the proceeds are going towards travel expenses (airfare, hotel, car, food, etc) and that any surplus in funds will be donated directly to the family. Rener says that if enough funds are raised, he hopes to be able to send the whole family to Disneyland as well.
Rener Gracie told the Jiu-Jitsu Times that despite the tight restrictions the United States currently imposes on Syrians coming into the country, he believes that the siblings and their family won’t have any difficulties obtaining the visa they need to come to the US. “Because he’d be coming with his family, as lawful residents of the UK, we don’t expect any problems. If by any chance they are unable to come to the US, we will try to arrange for them to get the training in the UK, and any surplus in the funds raised will be donated directly to the family.”
Watch the entire video below:
15-Year-Old-Boy Violently Bullied in the UK – Justice for Jamal
We don't know Jamal, but we do know that no one deserves to be treated like this. Help us bring Jamal and his family to California, so if it ever happens again, he'll be ready! We will be donating our time to train Jamal. 100% of the funds generated will be spent on covering the travel expenses. If there is any surplus it will be donated to Jamal's family. Click here to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/jiujitsu-for-jamal&rcid=r01-154353500859-507dbec9b621402c&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_wUpdate: Jamal's sister has also been getting bullied for months, so we'll be flying her out for the training as well.
Posted by Gracie Breakdown on Thursday, November 29, 2018
