One afternoon, in New York, Robert Bruckell, a young black man, decided to commit suicide when he discovered that he was more afraid of life than of death. His childhood had been an overdose of humiliation, and in the end he felt that life was too big for him.
Robert climbed the cornice on the 10th floor of a building, and threatened to throw himself. Immediately, the television channels were there waiting for him to delay further his jump to the void, to continue firing the rating. Among the viewers was another black: Casius Clay, better known as Muhammad Ali.
When Ali saw the scene, he went to the place to talk to the boy. He ran into the building, located the floor, looked out the window, and after a nervous exchange of words, the young man, desperate, said:
"I am black and poor. I am nothing to anyone in this country."
"You are my brother to me, and I am willing to die to save you. Remember that I refused to fight in Vietnam to save others," Ali told him.
"Well, I'm going to kill myself to save many lives, —said the boy— because I only think about killing. Retire. The champions I care three balls."
"Three balls!" Muhammad Ali said, and laughed. "One is enough ... Imagine three: then you care a lot."
Robert wanted to smile, but stopped himself. Muhammad Ali continued:
"They said on the TV that your name is Robert, a neighbor identified you, so, Robert, listen well and do not make a fool of me: I am more corpulent and it is more dangerous for me to stand where you are. to the heights, I tremble the three balls ..."
The young man smiled this time without any shame.
"I'm going to walk on that ledge, and I'll give you a hug, and if you want, we throw ourselves together, but die knowing you're important. I play for my friends, and you are my friend, there I go, Robert ... and you will not let me fall."
In a suicidal action, Ali walked down the ledge and hugged the boy who burst into compulsive crying, they staggered for a moment , on emptiness, in the midst of the horror of the crowd, and in the end They clung to a safe place.
I met Dr. Robert Bruckell, twenty years later, when he had already graduated as a doctor and finished telling me the story:
"For a week Muhammad Ali walked with me through the neighborhood and we played basketball in the park. He told me about history and politics, about chess and poetry, about war and about life. I had breakfast in my house. In the end the kids in my neighborhood, also asked me for autographs. He helped me with the study, and I was able to continue later on my own. And here he has me, trying to save lives, like Muhammad Ali did with me."
In chess, parallel world, it is not about saving lives but about the opposite.
1: Bf3; e4 2: Bxe4; Bxe4 3: Qa2+ and leads to Checkmate
This story was originally written by my friend Ramiro Díez in Diario EL TELÉGRAFO under the following address: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/columnistas/1/volaba-como-mariposa-y-a-que-le-tenia-miedo-mohamed-ali If you are going to use it, please quote our source and place a link to the original note. www.eltelegrafo.com.ec