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| Maryum with proud dad Ali in 1971 |
There is a window in every day when Muhammad Ali’s heavy Parkinson’s disease medication wears off, its brain-fogging side-effects soften and his family see his personality shine through.
His daughter Maryum fills that time creating cherishable memories with the world’s greatest sporting legend.
Maryum says: “Those moments are so precious. I wait for them.
“The majority of the day he can’t show any emotion because he has late, late-stage Parkinson’s .
“The medication puts him in a daze but he has to have the medication. So in those moments when his meds ease he’s more alert, we communicate and he can talk a little bit.
“There might be two hours in the day when we get his whole personality.
“In that time he’s so funny. He says, ‘How old are you now? Forty-seven? You are old!’. He’s so sweet and he’s just the same person he always was.”
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| Maryum loves her precious moments with her dad |
Ali, 74, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984, three years after the three-time world heavyweight boxing champ retired from the ring.
He was far more than a boxer. At a time when black people had to fight for basic civil rights in the US, his outspoken nature, charisma and wit enabled him to transcend sport to become one of the planet’s most famous men.
Maryum saw many sides to her dad the rest of the world did not.
She says: “People would ask my father for money all the time.
“It would be, ‘Champ, I can’t feed my babies, I can’t pay my rent. Can you help me out?’.
“Dad would give them five thousand dollars right there. He paid for people’s college education. He bought homes for people. He saved a guy about to kill himself.
1963
Dad was in traffic and a guy was about to jump to his death from a ninth floor window. All the police psychiatrists couldn’t talk him down off the ledge.
“My father was there and told the guy, ‘You are my brother, I love you’. He later put the guy through college.
“Dad would be driving down the street in his Rolls-Royce and would take a homeless family to his house – a family of five.
“He got in trouble with his wife, who by then wasn’t my mom, because he had these strangers sleeping in her bed. They were homeless because they were trying to get to Florida where they had family. So he put them all on a train to Florida.
“He was always doing this angel work. He always said, ‘We’re here to help. We can’t keep money to ourselves’.”
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| Muhammad Ali's exploits in the ring made him the world's greatest sportsman |
Ali being struck down with Parkinson’s was agonising for the family but they took his lead in dealing with the degenerative disease.
“It was a big blow and we didn’t know it would get progressively worse,” Maryum, the eldest of his nine children, says.
“Back then, the doctors didn’t know much about Parkinson’s and said it was a syndrome. The way my father dealt with his disease helped us deal with his disease.
“He handled it with a lot of grace and positivity and kept his spirits high. Instead of us worrying about him for 30 years, we have enjoyed his company for 30 years.
“So to anyone caring for a relative with Parkinson’s, I would say don’t put them in the corner as if they’re not valid any more.
“Even if they are not speaking well, keep them in the conversation, keep them involved in family functions, find things for them to do.”
She brings her father gifts of documentary DVDs which they watch together.
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| The boxing great has suffered from Parkinson's for 30 years |
“He really enjoyed the last one I brought of singer Sam Cooke. Dad really loved Sam and they were friends. And dad was in the documentary.”
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