UFC Champion Chris Weidman Saves His 94-Year-Old Neighbor's Life

Chris Weidman was already known as an all-around good guy.

The Long Island native and current UFC middleweight champion helped organize a food and clothing drive to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy. He spearheaded a fundraiser to support athletics in his hometown of Baldwin in addition to donating thousands himself. And earlier this year the 30-year-old Hofstra University graduate hosted a fundraiser at his gym in Garden City to help the family of 6-year-old aspiring wrestler born without legs move out of a shelter in Freeport.

So it should come as no surprise that when his 94-year-old neighbor was in need last Thursday morning, bleeding profusely from her head in her Dix Hills driveway, Weidman came to the rescue.

Weidman’s wife posted on Instagram soon after the incident: “She fell onto a glass table and had pieces stuck in her head. She was in her driveway bleeding out in the rain trying to call her daughter on the phone. Chris ran over and brought her inside, cleaned her up and called 911. #myhero”

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In the middle of a downpour, Weidman was outside his home when he “kept hearing this crazy, weird noise repeatedly,” according to a story on the UFC website.

He soon realized his neighbor a few doors down was yelling, “Help me, help me.” Weidman hopped in his car and came upon a horrifying scene.

“She was holding her neck and there was blood everywhere,” Weidman told the NY Daily News of Anna Croenlein. “It was the worst amount of blood I’ve ever seen.”

Weidman, who would later refer to Croenlein on Twitter as the “toughest 94 yr old ever,” brought his neighbor into her garage where he tried to stop the flow of blood while waiting for help to arrive.

“I was trying to get her to calm down, talking about her dog and trying to change the subject,” Weidman told UFC.com. ”She kept saying she just wanted one more year to live, and I’m like, ‘You’re going to be fine, you’re not dying today.’”

Help did arrive and Croenlein was treated for a minor concussion at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, where doctors used nine staples to close the gash on her head, the Daily News reported.

Croenlein, who is now back home, had never heard of Weidman or the UFC before last Thursday. She didn’t know of Weidman’s “Rocky”-like story or his knockout and upset of arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all-time, Anderson Silva, last year to grab the UFC middleweight championship. Weidman remains undefeated in UFC bouts with a record of 12-0.

But the great-grandmother of five won’t soon forget Weidman.

”He is really a champion,” Croenlein told the Daily News. “Believe me.”

Photo: Facebook/Chris Weidman