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Ham Richardson Biography

Claim to Fame: Tennis star
DOB: Aug. 24, 1933
Date of Death: Nov. 5, 2006
Diabetes Type: 1

Tennis star Hamilton “Ham” Richardson was a No. 1 ranked tennis player, a Rhodes scholar, and a father. He also lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of 15. “The first physician we went to said I could not play competitive tennis again,” Richardson recalled in a 1997 interview with The New Orleans Times-Picayune. “So I went to a second doctor. He said the same thing, so I went to a third. When I finally found one who said I wouldn’t have to give it up, my tennis picked up right where it left off.” He died on November 5, 2006 from complications of diabetes.