Martina Navratilova
Happy to say that tennis legend Martina Navratilova has been released from the hospital after altitude sickness ended her attempt to scale Mount Kilimanjaro. Martina was in great shape. That was not the cause, according to doctors who say that some people’s bodies simply react badly to low oxygen environments. In Navratilova’s case fluids were building up in her lungs. She did not want to quit. She is anything but a quitter, but once the symptoms of altitude sickness arose, the doctors ordered her off the mountain. But she is going to be fine. Only 18 of the original 27 climbers reached the summit. Some quotes from the all-time great:
“I didn’t feel badly, I just couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get a full breath of air. Nothing hurt, and for an athlete that’s weird. Nothing hurt but I (couldn’t) go on.”
“I always said the only failure is when you fail to try. I guess the other failure is not giving your best effort. I did both: I tried and gave my best effort.”
Fairways and Forehands 