Hyderabad: Sometimes, in life, fate plays an important role. Some people are dogged by failure at every turn while others are raised high as if by a miracle and achieve phenomenal success. One such person was R. Norris Williams, an American tennis player who was the son of Charles Duane Williams, a direct descendant of Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the USA.
Norris was born in 1891 in Switzerland where his father was posted. His father was deeply involved in the formation of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The boy grew up in an atmosphere where tennis was always being discussed so he began playing the game from a young age. When he was studying at Harvard he became the inter-collegiate champion. But later a series of extraordinary events happened in his life.
The first miracle
In 1912 he was traveling on the ill fated ocean liner Titanic with his father. When the huge ship struck an iceberg and began sinking, father and son jumped into the freezing water. Just as they did so, the massive funnel of the ship toppled over and fell on them.
Norris recalled later that he looked up and saw the huge funnel coming down from a great height. It was so wide that two cars could be driven into it. The massive tube was emitting a vast amount of smoke and fire. Norris felt that he would surely die when it fell. But luckily for him, it crashed down into the water missing Norris by a few metres. Some pieces of metal and coal rained down on his head causing minor injuries but he remained afloat.
However, his father was not so lucky. The older man died instantly when the massive metal structure crashed down on his head and took him down to the bottom of the sea.
But Norris had no time to feel grief. He swam through the floating pieces of burning debris and made his way to a collapsible boat. He clung to it desperately with his legs still in the ice cold water. Ultimately, he and his fellow survivors were picked up by a rescue ship, and it was only then that Norris was given medical attention.
After he was examined by the doctors, it was found that his legs had become severely affected by frostbite. The limbs were lifeless. The doctors decided that there was no other option than to amputate his legs to save his life. But when the doctors told Norris that they would have to amputate his legs, he argued vehemently against them. So insistent was he that the doctors decided to wait.
The second miracle
Norris fought against the numbness and pain and forced himself to try to move his legs. After a few days, to the amazement of the medical staff, Norris began to recover. What was a completely hopeless situation began to show signs of improvement. Sheer will power came to the rescue of Norris, and finally, there came a day when he could walk and run like any athlete.
He resumed his tennis career. Astonishingly, he won the US Clay Court championships only a few months after he had regained the strength in his legs. Before the year ended, he won the Pennsylvania lawn tennis championships by defeating eight-time champion Wallace Johnson who was a top-level Davis Cup player.
Honoured for bravery in battles
But fate was not done yet with the life of Norris Williams. In 1914 began the First World War–the most devastating war that humanity had seen till then. As an able-bodied and fit young man, Norris enlisted in the army. The war was fought for more than four years, and an estimated 30 million army men died in the conflict.
The European theatre of the war was the most cataclysmic front, and many of Norris’ fellow officers met their end. But throughout it all, Norris remained unharmed. At the end of the war he received medals for his gallantry in the battles. France decorated him with the prestigious Croix de Guerre medal.
Wimbledon victory
After the war ended in 1918, life slowly limped back to normal, and Norris once again resumed his tennis career. From 1919 to 1923, he was ranked world number 2. In 1920, he won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title with Chuck Garland as his partner. The two Americans defeated A. Kingscoate and James Park of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in the final. The Wimbledon victory was one of the highest points of Norris’s career till then.
Olympic Games gold medal
But more honour was to follow. At the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, Norris teamed up with Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman to win the gold medal in the mixed doubles competition. The duo defeated Marion Zinderstein and Vincent Richards, also of the USA in an easy 6-2, 6-3 straight sets victory.
After his tennis career had ended, Norris Williams became a successful investment banker. He also became the President of the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Finally, at the age of 77, the man who survived the sinking of the Titanic and the devastating First World War died of a lung disease called emphysema. His remarkable life was a story of miracles happening one after another in a continuous series.
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