3 Famous American Sports Stars Who Battled Serious Disease

Professional sports stars may often be considerably fitter and stronger than the average person, but just like everyone else, they can suffer from serious illnesses.

It’s true that an active and healthy lifestyle can prevent some diseases, but unfortunately many conditions can still develop regardless of how physically fit you are.

What follows in the next few slides are examples of some of the most iconic American sport stars in history who had to battle a serious illness of one kind or another

Lou Gehrig became a household name in the United States during his successful baseball career which saw him play for the New York Yankees alongside the likes of Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio.

Whilst his name is recognized among the greats of baseball, it’s also synonymous with a disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In the USA particularly, ALS is commonly referred to as ‘Lou Gehrig’s disease’ which certainly indicates that he was one of the first high profile individuals to be diagnosed with it.

Gehrig was still an active professional baseball player when he received his official ALS diagnosis, but the debilitating symptoms associated with this quite rare disease meant that he had to retire from his beloved sport once the severity of his condition was realized.

ALS is condition for which there is currently no cure and typically an individual will live for only between 2 and 5 years beyond their diagnosis.

Two years after his retirement and his ALS diagnosis, Lou Gehrig passed away in his sleep aged 37.

Arguably the most iconic sportsman of all time, Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in 1942), is another example of an extremely high profile figure who suffered from a serious medical condition, although he lived for many more years following his diagnosis than Lou Gehrig did.

At the age of 12, Ali become an amateur boxer and went on to represent the USA in the 1960 Olympic Games, winning the gold medal for himself and his country.

He then turned professional and went on to become the world heavyweight champion in 1964.

Ali enjoyed an extremely successful boxing career and was known for his charismatic interviews and one-liners.

However, in 1984 – three years after he retired from the sport – he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

Research suggests that the risk of Parkinson’s can be increased when an individual is subjected to repeated head trauma, which suggests Ali’s career choice may have played a role in him developing the condition.

He had began to exhibit certain symptoms associated with the disease, such as slurred speech, whilst he was still an active professional boxer, but they become much more noticeable in the years following his retirement until his death in 2016.

Muhammad Ali was 74 when he died as a result of complications related to a chest infection.

To this day, Arthur Ashe remains the only male African-American tennis player to have won the US Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

The world’s largest tennis stadium at Flushing Meadows in New York is called the ‘Arthur Ashe Stadium’, which is an indicator of his legendary status within the sport.

Two years after his last Grand Slam success (a doubles win in the 1977 Australian Open), Ashe had a heart attack and from then onwards, a series of health complications arose for the tennis star.

He underwent a quadruple bypass operation in 1979 followed by further heart surgery in 1983 to correct the initial bypass he received.

In 1988 he underwent an emergency brain operation, and it was during this period of time in hospital where a biopsy was taken that revealed further illness - he was diagnosed with HIV.

It’s thought that Ashe contracted the virus from a blood transfusion that he received during his heart surgery in 1983.

Arthur Ashe publicly announced his condition in 1992 and subsequently founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation to help raise HIV and AIDS awareness and reduce the stigma associated with both conditions.

A year later, in 1993, Ashe passed away as a result of AIDS-related pneumonia.