Residuals of a Shooting: Odie Delaney's troubling times pre-ONE Championship

Odie Delaney grew up in a town in rural Alaska and was brutally bullied on a regular basis due to his awkward frame and religious views. Delaney looked to wrestling as a way to curb bullies from targeting him. However, what started as a way to deter bullies quickly became a passion that Odie Delaney was quite good at.

Following his parents' divorce, Delaney and his mother relocated to Florida, and he enrolled at South Walton High School. He became the school’s first state champion, placing 5th in the country in the senior nationals. His impressive performances throughout high school earned him a scholarship to attend The Citadel, a prestigious military academy in North Carolina.

Competing as a Division 1 wrestler for The Citadel, Odie Delaney attained four Southern Conference championships and became a Division I All-American. While speaking to Cageside Press, he said this about his collegiate wrestling career:

“The high of my wrestling career was becoming a Division 1 All-American. It took five long years of hard work. Five hard years of balancing academics, athletics, and duty In one of the toughest military schools in the country.”

Once college came to an end, so did Odie Delaney’s wrestling career. During his time as a student, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and used that to acquire a job in law enforcement. Delaney continued to work towards his Masters’ degree while working as a police officer in Charleston, North Carolina.

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The call that would change Odie Delaney's life

Shortly after completing his Masters, Odie Delaney received a call on his police radio that would change everything. An active shooter situation was developing nearby. Delaney and his partner immediately responded and were two of the first three officers at the scene at Mother Emanuel AME Church. Minutes before their arrival, a white supremacist named Dylan Roof opened fire on churchgoers following a Wednesday evening bible study.

With his weapon drawn, Odie Delaney walked through the door, uncertain of what he would find. On the other side of the door was a scene that would affect him for the rest of his life.

“He murdered nine people during a prayer meeting,” Delaney said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “A Wednesday night gathering. He went in, sat through the whole thing, stood up and killed everybody. I was one of the first responders on that scene. I helped get the survivors out of there. Watched a few people die. That sort of triggered something in me.”

By the time Odie Delaney walked through the door, Roof had fled the scene. Remembering his training, Delaney secured the church and then began tending to the victims and survivors of the cowardly attack. He followed his training to a T, but weeks later, Delaney would find out just how much of an impact the trauma of that night had affected him.

Odie Delaney’s chest began to tighten up. His throat felt as though it was closing. Delaney was experiencing the first of what would become many panic attacks before being diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD.

“I don’t know if you’d call it a macho reaction, where this can’t hurt me,” Delaney says. “I went through this, ‘I’m a man, I’m tough, I’m not going to let this affect me,’ but that’s not really how it works. It’s almost like a physical injury. You can’t just wish it away. If you’re injured, you’re injured. That was my initial reaction, and I paid for it.”

Odie Delaney struggled to reach out for help, opting to cope with the tragedy on his own. This approach only compounded the issue, leading to weekly panic attacks and eventually, suicidal thoughts. As a result, Odie Delaney left his job with the Charleston Police Department and began working jobs away from law enforcement.

After some time had passed, Odie Delaney moved back to his native Alaska in search of a fresh start. Joining the Alaska State Troopers, Delaney was convinced his time away from the field was enough to properly heal from the trauma he experienced that one Wednesday night.

“I really thought I was over it,” Delaney says. “I was on heavy medication that kind of made it so I didn’t have the panic attacks, and I got a little cocky. I thought this was over — I can move on, no problem. I went and applied for the trooper academy in Alaska. Went through the training, no problem. [It was] one of the last weeks of the trooper academy and we have an active shooting class, and I went to the class. I felt good about it, but I kind of broke down inside. I had to leave the classroom.”

The panic attacks had begun again. Unsure if he could cope with a lifetime of crippling panic attacks, Odie Delaney contemplated taking his own life.

“I had a gun to my head,” Delaney says. “That’s when you have to ask yourself, it’s either death or I’ve got to be brave one more time and tell somebody I’m having trouble, I’m at the end. I think it’s worth it to be brave that one more time to get your voice out there.”

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Odie Delaney's road to recovery finally begins

After years of denial, Odie Delaney entered into therapy to properly begin healing for himself and his family. Delaney took each day one at a time. Slowly feeling the weight of the trauma lift from his chest, Delaney was able to push forward with a new form of therapy. Old love with a new twist: mixed martial arts.

“I found when I physically exerted myself in training, which obviously happens in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, MMA, I almost felt like my body was too tired at that point to have those massive panic attacks and that huge level of anxiety,” Delaney says. “Training consistently everyday kind of helped me while I figured things out on the mental side.”

Now, as an undefeated fighter with a global stage at his disposal, Delaney wants to use his platform not only to continue to improve his own mental health, but to let those who are struggling know that it’s okay to ask for help.

“I really want to meet that problem head on. For some reason, soldiers and young men pay attention to MMA fighters, especially in the U.S. I don’t see a lot of great role models. I’m trying to be that. I thought if I could build a platform through martial arts, then I will be able to reach people and help them. Help the people who are going through the same things I am.”