Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993 TAG: 9302080104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
SUDDEN DEMISE SURPRISING
Arthur Ashe's doctor said Sunday that he was as surprised by the suddeness of the tennis champion's death from AIDS on Saturday as he was of how Ashe had remained healthy for more than four years after AIDS was diagnosed.Ashe, 49, died from a form of pneumonia known as PCP for pneumocystis carinii, the fungus that causes it. He had recovered from an earlier bout of PCP in January but became ill again on last Wednesday and entered New York Hospital on Friday.
Even a few hours before his death - when his breathing had to be supplemented by a mechanical respirator - his doctors thought he would pull through again.
"I don't believe he actually knew it was the end," although "he knew he was very ill" and "he knew what the implication of" being on a mechanical respirator was, Dr. Henry W. Murray said of his patient at a news conference at New York Hospital Sunday.
Ashe's condition improved Friday night and Saturday morning before his medical team was caught unaware by a sudden turn for the worse, Murray said in an interview. He added: "For reasons that are unexplained, but that are typical of respiratory failure, something came along and went wrong."
Although Ashe was unable to speak in his final hours, he was alert and wrote notes asking about the results of his tests and who President Clinton might nominate as the next attorney general, Murray said.
Ashe made a circle with his finger and thumb to tell his doctors he was doing fine just before his death.
Ashe's widow, Jeannie, told their daughter, Camera, about her father's death Saturday night.
"They had planned a father-daughter party for Valentine's Day with Camera and her friends on Saturday, but Jeannie explained they had to cancel it," said Donald Dell, Ashe's attorney and long-time friend.
A memorial service will be held in New York City on Friday. Details have not been completed.
Ashe's death caught many by surprise because only last week he was continuing his public campaign against the ravages of AIDS. A talk on Tuesday was his last, and he gave it despite being short of breath from what turned out to be the fatal lung infection.
Ashe's sudden demise also illustrated the unpredictable nature of how HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, confounds experts 11 years after the disease was discovered.
Ashe first learned he had AIDS in 1988 after the right hand that he had used to smash his way to the Wimbledon and United States Open tennis championships suddenly went dead. A brain operation showed he had a parasitic infection, toxoplasmosis.
Ashe's tennis career was ended by a heart attack, and he underwent two coronary by-pass operations in 1979 and 1983. Ashe and his doctors said they believed he became infected through a tainted blood transfusion during one of the operations.
But Ashe did not disclose that he had AIDS until April 7, 1992, and then only after learning that USA Today intended to publish an article about it.
Initially, Ashe was deeply angered about what he considered an invasion of his privacy. But then he dedicated himself to educating people about AIDS.
Dell said Ashe considered a speech he gave at the United Nations on World AIDS Day last December 1 the most significant event in his life.
"We want to be able to look back and say to all concerned that we did what we had to do when we had to do it and with all the resources required," Ashe told the U.N. delegates.
In an interview at the U.N., Ashe seemed to have changed his mind, expressing a sense of relief about having disclosed his condition and being able to talk about AIDS.
Dell said Sunday that once Ashe had overcome his initial anger, he had come to regard the period since his disclosure "the most productive period of his life."
Murray said: "Once the anger wore off, the relief was obvious. If he wasn't well one day, he could say why he wasn't well and he did not need to tell different stories to different people."
Ashe knew he would die of AIDS "but he never knew when or how fast" or what from, Dell said.