Arthur Ashe, the first African-American to win Wimbledon, tragically contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion during a heart operation. As his health deteriorated, he was once asked by a reporter how he felt. Had he ever asked himself ‘Why me?'

This was his response: “If you start asking that,” Ashe said, “when do you stop? If I asked why I had a bad heart, or why I got AIDS do I also have to ask why I won Wimbledon? Or why I’ve had this kind of life? When something bad happens, people have this way of forgetting their blessings. I don’t. I’ve had a wonderful life.”
He died on this day, 20 years ago, aged 49.

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