Suddenly and sadly, AIDS has struck the sports community again.
Five months after Magic Johnson announced he had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Arthur Ashe revealed he has the disease.Ashe, the first black man to win Grand Slam tennis titles, on Wednesday said he believes he became infected with the virus through a tainted blood transfusion following his second open heart surgery in June 1983.
At the time, AIDS was not yet viewed as a mainstream disease, one that could be transmitted through tainted blood. So there was no reason for Ashe to think twice about it when doctors offered two units of blood to him after the retired tennis star complained of feeling badly following surgery at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan.
"I got two units several days after the surgery when I wasn't feeling good," Ashe said. "I told the doctors, `I feel awful.' They said, `You can wait it out or we can give you a couple of units.' "
In 1983, blood was transfused routinely with no concern for AIDS. That changed in 1985. "I was 18 months too soon for the testing of blood," Ashe said.
The hospital issued a statement expressing sadness over Ashe's announcement.
"Before 1985, there was no test available that could screen blood for the presence of the HIV virus," the hospital said. "Since 1985, 100 percent of all blood products used at St. Luke's-Roosevelt are screened for the presence of HIV virus."
Some 4,770 AIDS cases in the United States have been attributed to transfusions of blood, about 2 percent of the total. Almost all those infections occurred before the nation's blood supply began being screened for the human immunodeficiency virus in 1985.
Unlike Johnson, who went public immediately after testing positive, Ashe and his family chose to keep his medical condition private. Eventually, however, Ashe was forced to come forward because of continuing rumors, and finally a call this week from a reporter for USA Today. "It put me in the unenviable position of having to lie if I wanted to protect our privacy," he said.