"Do what you can” - Arthur Ashe.
Born in a tennis world that was dominated by Caucasians and Whites, the struggles that Arthur Ashe had to face even to enter the tennis arena were difficult. But that didn’t stop him. Ashe often said, “To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have,... Read more
"Do what you can” - Arthur Ashe.
Born in a tennis world that was dominated by Caucasians and Whites, the struggles that Arthur Ashe had to face even to enter the tennis arena were difficult. But that didn’t stop him. Ashe often said, “To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”
In 1979, Ashe retired from professional tennis due to a heart attack. He underwent surgeries in 1979 and 1983. Later, in 1988, it was reported that Arthur Ashe was HIV positive due to a wrongful blood transfusion that had taken place during his second heart surgery in 1983. Ashe went public with his story. At that time, people were not much aware about HIV and AIDS.
The people who suffered with the disease were discriminated against. Ashe went on a mission. He educated people regarding safe sex and founded the Arthur Ashe foundation for the defeat of AIDS. Sports Illustrated named him the Sportsman of the Year even though he didn’t participate in a single match.
In February 1993, Arthur Ashe died. When the world knew that he was HIV positive, a young child had sent Ashe a letter asking “Why did God choose you for this disease?”, Ashe replied:
“There are 50 million kids who start playing tennis. Only 5 million learn to play tennis. Out of that, only 500,000 learn tennis professionally. Among them, 50,000 are ready to join the tournaments. Then there are 5000 tennis player who make it into the Grand Slam tournament. There are 50 tennis players who join the Wimbledon tournament. Then only 4 make it to the semifinals. Then 2 make it to the final. When I held the trophy with my hands, I did not ask God, “why me.” Today when I am ill, I will not ask God, “why me?”
sportskeeda.com