Thursday October 15, 2009
Do not feel sorry for me, says Ballesteros
LONDON: Seve Ballesteros says the last thing he wants is sympathy after making a “miracle” recovery from four operations to remove a brain tumour.
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me,” the 52-year-old Spaniard told Peter Alliss in a BBC interview.
“Some people will feel sorry for me or maybe cry when they see this programme but I feel very happy and a very lucky person because throughout my life I have had so many great moments and feel I have lived two or three more lives than the average person.
“This thing that happened to me is a very little thing compared to other people who have tougher times,” added Ballesteros.
“They didn’t have the opportunity to live life so intensely. I’ve had a very good life.”
The five-time major champion, who earlier this year said the doctors had performed a “miracle” on him, told Alliss it was difficult to stay calm during his ordeal.
“Patience has never been my strongest point and to spend 22 days in intensive care and 72 days in one room you need tremendous patience,” said Ballesteros.
“There were times when it was tough but when things are going wrong you have to think positive. In my life I have a lot of good things to think about in a positive way and that’s what I was doing.
“Life is like sport. You have to fight every day and the key is to never give up.
“As my old friend (1967 British Open champion) Roberto de Vicenzo used to say, ‘when the bad times arrive you have to open the umbrella and wait for the rain to stop’.”
Ballesteros, who was diagnosed with the tumour after collapsing 12 months ago, is back playing golf and is keen to compete in the British Open at St Andrews in July.
The charismatic Spaniard won golf’s oldest major in 1979, 1984 and 1988, and the US Masters in 1980 and 1983.
Ballesteros, who has three children but split from his wife Carmen several years ago, said the only time he felt down was when he was alone in his big house in Santander.
“Sometimes when I come home I feel a little bit sad because I don’t have anybody,” he said. “I am by myself and it’s a big house.” — Reuters
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