Marehemu Manute alishawishiwa kuja Marekani kucheza basketball kutokana na urefu wake. Alikuwa kabilia la Dinka. Kuna vita kali huko Sudan kati ya waDinka na waarabu. Kutokana na urfeu wake, hakuwa na haja ya kuruka ili kufika kwenye kikapu! Hakusahau kwao na alianzisha miradi ya kusaidia Sudan, na pia alitumia karibu hela yake yote kwa ajili ya miradi huko Sudan.
Mungu ailaze roho yake mahala pema mbinguni. Amen.
Manute Bol aliwafungulia mlango wachezaji wengine kutoka Afrika kama Dikembe Mutombo na kijana wetu Hasheem Thabit.
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Manute Bol, the 7-foot-7 inch basketball star and Sudanese humanitarian, who once called the University of Bridgeport his home, died Saturday morning at age 47.
His death at University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville.was confirmed by friend and Sudan Sunrise director Tom Prichard via email to the Associated Press.
Prichard said Sudan "and the world have lost a hero."
Bol was hospitalized last month for an acute kidney failure and skin disease he had contracted while trying to help his native Sudan.
Bol, a 10-year NBA veteran, was returning to the United States last month from his native Sudan after helping fight corrupt practices in the country's recent elections. He was hospitalized during a stopover in Washington in May.
Hailing from Sudan, Bol was enticed to play college basketball in the United States and was drafted by the San Diego Clippers in the fifth round of the 1983 NBA Draft. The NBA, however, ruled Bol ineligible and an attempt to get him to play at Cleveland State failed. He enrolled at the University of Bridgeport, where he played during the 1984-85 season.
In 1985, Bol was drafted in the second round by the Washington Bullets. He played in the NBA for 10 years, from 1985-1995, with the Bullets, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat. Bol averaged 2.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 3.3 blocks per game.
He spent the rest of his life as a humanitarian working closely with Sudan Sunrise, a group based in Lenexa, Kan., that promotes reconciliation in war-torn Sudan. He survived a serious car accident in 2004.
Kwa habari zaidi someni:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/sports/basketball/20bol.html
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Hashim amshukuru huyo Manute kwa kweli. Ila nasikia jamaa amekufa maskini. REST IN PEACE.
By Jennifer Bixler
CNN Medical Executive Producer
The past few weeks have been a blur of hospitals and doctors for Mathiang Bol. His cousin basketball great Manute Bol died Saturday at the University of Virginia Medical Center at age 47. Between making funeral arrangements, helping his Sudanese family understand the American health system and dealing with his own grief, Mathiang, also known by his English name, George, has been going non-stop. "I was with him when he died," Bol told CNN as he drove family members to the airport Monday in Virginia. "They put him on a respirator on Friday. He passed on Saturday morning," says Bol.
George Bol says doctors told the family that a "broad range of complications" led to his cousin's death. He had liver and kidney damage. He also had a bad reaction to medicine and developed a rare skin disease, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which causes skin and mucous membranes to become inflamed and blister.
In their grief, some people close to Bol wonder if he put his commitment to the people of his home country of Sudan above his own health.
"I think if he had not gone to Sudan, he would be alive today," says Tom Prichard, a friend of Bol and executive director of Sudan Sunrise, a group Bol worked with to help rebuild Southern Sudan. "Back in the fall, I helped arrange for Manute to go to the doctor. He was having kidney problems. He shouldn't have traveled until it cleared up."
But he did. In November, he traveled to Sudan to work on the school he was building and lend support during the Sudanese presidential and parliamentary elections. Prichard says Bol left behind a bag that contained his medicine. It took weeks to get the medicine to Bol in Southern Sudan. Complicating things, Bol then decided to extend his time in Sudan. "I am going to stay because people need me," Prichard remembers Bol telling him. The pain got worse. Prichard says supporters arranged for a private plane with a nurse to bring Bol out of Sudan, but he refused. Eventually, the pain became so bad, Bol went to Nairobi, Kenya, for treatment. He had gallstones and internal bleeding. It's there, according to Prichard, that Bol was given medicine that caused Bol's lips to swell, one of the classic symptoms of Stevens-Johnson.
In May, Bol flew back to the United States, where he was admitted to Reston Medical Center in Virginia. A few days later, he was transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center. Doctors tried to save his life, but there was nothing they could do.
"He is beloved in Sudan and will be missed," says Prichard. A memorial is planned for Saturday in Washington. Afterwards, his body will be flown to Sudan for burial. Bol leaves behind eight children ranging in age from 22 years to 3 months.
Hashim angetoa statement naye angalau kama Mwafrika katika NBA.
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