Manute Bol fighting for his life with kidney failure

[Pistons < Spurs]

Popular former NBA player Manute Bol is currently in a northern Virginia hospital fighting for his life.

Dan Steinberg at The Sports Bog (part of the Washington Post) reports that Bol had been hospitalized after a return from his native Sudan with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome -- a life-threatening skin condition -- as well as kidney failure.

Tom Prichard, who has worked with Bol on building a school in Sudan through the group Sudan Sunrise, said that Bol was returning from several months in Sudan, where his health had deteriorated. Prichard said Bol flew into Dulles and had to stay overnight near the airport before a flight back to his family in Kansas; after friends asked the hotel manager to check on Bol, he was rushed to a local hospital.

Prichard said that Bol has undergone three rounds of dialysis, and that the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome might necessitate a move to a burn unit.

"He's at great risk," Prichard said. "He's in a bad way."


http://www.hoopsdaily.com/content/manute-bol-fighting-his-life-kidney-failure

[TheMACHINE]

=(

[noob cake]

Light-threatening skin condition + something causing liver failure.

Gotta suck when you catch two life threatening bugs/disease on one trip.

[Drachen]

This sucks. This man kept doing ridiculous stunt after ridiculous stunt making fun of himself to raise money for his home country. He is one of the (unsung) pillars of selflessness. I hope he pulls through.

[Bob Lanier]

I thought he was broke? Or is the government paying for these last few weeks of his life?

[Ginobilly]

Manute Bol comes from the David Robinson mold. They care more about the well-being of others than themselves. I've read numerous reports that he has given most of his NBA/celebrity earning to help build hospitals and schools in the Sudan. My prayers go out to the Bol family.:depressed

[The Gemini Method]

This is sad news indeed...The guy was such a charitable person that it almost seems unfair he's going through this at the moment. Hopefully he'll make a miraculous recovery.

[Ginobilly]

I thought he was broke? Or is the government paying for these last few weeks of his life?

He was broke for awhile, so he had to resort to doing celebrity boxing matches, etc to make a living. There were reports that he was living in a motel while giving the majority of his earning from his fundraisers/boxing to help build a school and a clinic in the Sudan for his people. God already has a special place for Manute Bol when he dies.

[Giuseppe]

There is segment on one of those old NBA Videos from the '80s showing Manute grabbing a rebound and passing the ball between his legs on the outlet. The best part is you can see his bench in the background rise & erupt en masse in good natured laughter. It's a riot.

[baseline bum]

That sucks. Manute was really cool to his fans back in his playing days.

[NewJerSpur]

Sad to hear, hope he pulls through and can fight this with the same tenacity/never back down attitude he displayed on the court.

[jdev82]

This sucks. This man kept doing ridiculous stunt after ridiculous stunt making fun of himself to raise money for his home country. He is one of the (unsung) pillars of selflessness. I hope he pulls through.


there must be a different culture in these third world nations than in our nations ghettos. you dont hear of allen iverson and the likes pouring half his paychecks into the community and giving back in a really significant way like dikembe mutombo.

get well soon manute, you always gave 100% in the nba, even if you were getting beat, and the same seems to be true in his life

[Sportstudi]

I really hope he will overcome this bad situation. He's such a good guy, always caring about his country and the ones he loves more than about himself. He is just a master of unselflessness.

[TIMMYD!]

There is segment on one of those old NBA Videos from the '80s showing Manute grabbing a rebound and passing the ball between his legs on the outlet. The best part is you can see his bench in the background rise & erupt en masse in good natured laughter. It's a riot.

0gpya5OTOnM

At 1:50.

[Biggems]

always one of my favorite players...and such a wonderful human being......IMO, guys like him deserve a better fate and a much better way of going out than what seems to be happening to him.

God bless Manute Bol

[TampaDude]

Yeah, he's cool...hope he recovers...

[duncan228]

:( Wish him the best.

[lefty]

Wow thats weird


I thought about Manute Bol a few days ago

IDK why, but I did :wtf

I remember a few years ago he was broke after sending most of his $$$ to his family

Chris Mullin and other former teammates had to help him out.

I wish him the best

[Giuseppe]

At 1:50.

Great find, TIM.

[da_suns_fan]

Aww man. That sucks :(

Always liked him.

[fevertrees]

Hope he pulls through...shame the NBA doesn't have selfless people like this anymore

[Biggems]

Hope he pulls through...shame the NBA doesn't have selfless people like this anymore

Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Fabricio Oberto
Derek Fisher


but yes, these guys are sorely missed

Manute Bol
David Robinson
Dikembe Mutombo
Kevin Johnson

[LnGrrrR]

This sucks. This man kept doing ridiculous stunt after ridiculous stunt making fun of himself to raise money for his home country. He is one of the (unsung) pillars of selflessness. I hope he pulls through.

Yeah, I feel for the guy. A real hero.

[Fernando TD21]

Best wishes for Manute.

[rayjayjohnson]

Light-threatening skin condition + something causing liver failure.

Gotta suck when you catch two life threatening bugs/disease on one trip.

being black isn't life threatening.

oh wait, i understand now...

[TheManFromAcme]

Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Fabricio Oberto
Derek Fisher


but yes, these guys are sorely missed

Manute Bol
David Robinson
Dikembe Mutombo
Kevin Johnson

:tu

Good list but the 2 that stick out personally for me is Dikembe and David. Those 2 are the classiest of the class.

[TheManFromAcme]

BTW......

Get well Manute. If I had a third kidney I'd let you have it for all your unselfish acts you do to help others in need.

[Muser]

:tu

Good list but the 2 that stick out personally for me is Dikembe and David. Those 2 are the classiest of the class.

With all things said Manute is the classiest of all. He gave his money to charity when he was practically broke, that's a damn good man :tu. Hope he gets better.

[TheManFromAcme]

With all things said Manute is the classiest of all. He gave his money to charity when he was practically broke, that's a damn good man :tu. Hope he gets better.

:tu

Your right. Men like this are what all should strive to be.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Bol doing better


Former NBA player Manute Bol has started to show some progress after one week in a hospital in Northern Virginia. So says friend Tom Pritchard, who has worked with the 7-foot-7 Bol in trying to promote reconciliation between Christians and Muslims in war-ravaged Sudan.

Bol was hospitalized on May 18 after falling critically with severe kidney trouble and a painful skin condition called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.

“He is doing a little better,” Pritchard, the founder of NGO Sudan Sunrise, said. “He is receiving dialysis treatments, and they are treating the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which is causing his skin still to itch terribly. He has been transferred out of Intensive Care, and is beginning to eat a little.”

Bol, who has been riddled with health problems ever since a car accident in 2004, had spent the last few months in his home country in order to build a school in conjunction with Sudan Sunrise and help tackle corruption with election appearances upon the president’s request.

The former player of Washington, Golden State, Philadelphia and Miami, considered the tallest in NBA history, has received hundreds of get-well messages on Facebook that will be printed and passed to him.

“The outpouring of love and encouragement from his fans around the world has been wonderful,” Pritchard said.

Read more: http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/sierra/2010/05/25/bol-doing-better/#ixzz0ozJiL8iB

[carina_gino20]

Bol doing better


Good to know. :tu There are usually two things that come to mind when I think of Manute Bol: a) tall, b) generous.

[Pistons < Spurs]

There is guardedly good news on Manute Bol, who has been hospitalized for several weeks in Virginia after suffering from kidney failure and a skin condition, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, that almost killed him. Bol had two more operations last week to remove both his gall bladder and a gallstone, and to stem some bleeding. As of late last week, his condition had stabilized and his life was not at risk.

"He's still in the hospital in Charlottesville and still has not completed his trip home. So he's had a heck of an ordeal," said the Rev. Tom Pritchard, the executive director of Sudan Sunrise, an organization that is trying to reconcile some of the longtime warring factions in Bol's native Sudan.

Bol's kidneys, Pritchard said, are now working. But because the 7-foot-7 former center for the 76ers, Wizards, Warriors and Heat has been bedridden for a month, he's lost a lot of strength, and doctors haven't been able to get him up and walking because he's had so many operations.

Bol was in the Sudan for yet another months-long trip when he fell ill. He's been trying to build a primary school in his home city of Turalei, with an ultimate goal of building 41 schools in Sudan. The idea is that the schools will be open to all children, regardless of their religion or tribe. Pritchard said 250 members of Bol's Dinka tribe family have been murdered over the years, but Bol's schools will accept even those whose fellow sect members were involved in some of the killings.

He also supported a young Sudanese politician who wanted to make improvements.

"It's been a wonderful example of reconciliation," Pritchard said. "He wants to do this all over. It's something that Sudan desperately needs. It has some of the highest illiteracy in the world. He was in Sudan for the schools but he really stayed because of the election in April. The president of southern Sudan asked him please to stay. He is revered by the southern Sudanese ... when Manute got back to the states he said 'we did it.' He kind of felt putting his own life on the line was worth it, because he got the result he was looking for in the election."

Bol is still trying to raise $18,000 to put a roof on the school under construction in Turalei.

"Right now we have one building with three classrooms done, and the rainy season's upon us," Pritchard said. "It's not going to destroy it, but it's of no use during this rainy season, which is heartbreaking."

There is a Facebook page for those who'd like to wish Bol well in his recovery, and the link to Sudan Sunrise is here. It would be a strong gesture for all that Bol has done, both during his playing days and since, to help Sudan, if some of his former NBA teammates and current NBA players and officials dug into their vast pockets and paid off that $18K for the roof. That's per diem money, folks.


http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/david_aldridge/06/14/morning.tip/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

[TheManFromAcme]

Get well Manute
Hang in there my friend.
Praying that you pull out of it. :tu