Its January 19th,1981 and a distraught young man is saved from committing suicide by former Heavyweight champion, Muhammad Ali. From a ledge 9 floors above Wilshere boulevard in down town Los Angeles, the hooded man shouted, Im no good. Im going to jump. the Viet Cong are coming at me. Police, a psychologist and a minister had all but given up trying to change the despondent mans mind when Muhammad Ali who happened to be near by, volunteered to talk to him. The former Heavyweight champion went to a window and reportedly yelled, Im your brother. I want to help you. Recognizing Ali, the man finally opened the fire escape door and Ali approached him on the ledge. It was a very tensed 20 minutes. Several times it looked as though Ali was going to fail. Then suddenly it was all over. The man, Ali said later, began to weep. He was taken to the psychiatric ward of the Veterans Hospital. The former champ later visited him at the hospital. Watch the clip from The CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite: https://youtube/watch?v=SV75aFzC1aQ *Special Thanks to Clare Hurney for this piece* (~Mayor Sam~)
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:05:02 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015