RIP Manute Bol: Manute Bol 7 foot 7 inch Basketball Star dies
Manute Bol, the massive 7 foot 7 inch basketball player from Sudan, passed away a few days ago at the age of 47. He played 10 seasons in the NBA and was a star player for the Washington Bullets, the Golden State Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat. However towards the end of his life he was more well known for the humanitarian work he did in his home country of Sudan.
Manute started playing basketball in his native Sudan and he played for a few teams in the country until a scout from the NBA asked him to come to America. He couldn't speak any English when he first arrived in the country and had to take English lessons. He was drafted early on into the NBA and started playing with the Washington Bullets. He led the league in shots blocked year after year because of his immense height. He would tower over his opponents and team mates and was a major force to be reckoned with in the basketball league.
He was known as the gentle giant in the NBA because of the fact that he spoke softly, he never got upset with people and went about his own business. He was a very interesting man who was full of life and was proud of where he came from and was confident about his height. He was reportedly so tall that he had to get on his knees to wash his face and brush his teeth in hotel rooms and he would never fit on an average sized bed. The stories about him were legendary, he would tell his team mates that he killed a lion with a spear in Africa, the fact that his grandfather was 7 foot 10 inches tall and had 40 wives and many more strange facts that instantly enamoured his team mates to him.
Manute died following kidney complications that occurred while he was in Sudan building a school there. He overstayed his visit in the country because the president of Sudan wanted him to give a speech and use his celebrity status to try to stop election corruption. He also had severe skin problems caused by some kidney treatment he had while in Africa. He had lacerations all over his face and could not eat for almost a week. These were not the only injuries the huge NBA star had to endure during his life. In 2004, he was returning from a WNBA game and he was in a taxi which crashed. The driver had been intoxicated and had been speeding. Manute was thrown from the car and broke two bones in his neck, spent four weeks in a coma and had nerve damage in his right hand. The injury set him back a few thousand dollars and he was hospitalised for 6 weeks.
The big basketball player was mostly well known after he retired from the game for his humanitarian work. He donated millions of dollars to the rebel movement in his home nation of Sudan, built schools and lobbied the US congress to help end the war in the country. He set up the Ring True Foundation to help refugees in Sudan and he was involved in many celebrity events to raise money. One of these was a celebrity boxing match which Bol won and he helped raise a lot of money for charity. He also entered into a one day contract with a professional ice hockey team and played one game for them. He did this without being able to skate and the publicity he received helped him raise money for children in Sudan.
This larger than life man, who went from being a tribesman in Sudan to becoming the most famous basketball player the country, had produced to finally becoming one of the greatest humanitarians Africa had produced. He was a simple and great person who spent all of his money on helping others and died while building a school. We should all learn from his life and try to follow his example. It would be great to see more sports stars following Manute Bol's lead in helping make this world a better place for all.
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