Serena and Venus Williams’ 74-year-old father, Richard Williams, suffered a stroke right before the 2016 Wimbledon tournament.
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According to Williams’ third wife, 37-year-old Lakeisha Williams, the patriarch of the Williams family is still recovering.
“His condition is fair; he’s up and walking around, but he’s not at 100 percent,” Lakeisha Williams said.
“He needs speech therapy, psychological therapy and physical therapy, but for now, he refused,” she said. “I’m trying to get him under control and relaxed so that when we come back from out of town we could try to get that going. But he doesn’t wish to be bothered with anybody.
“His mind is thinking that they’re going to put him back in ‘prison’—which is what he calls the hospital,” she said. “He thinks we are just going to take him back to the hospital, but that is not correct.”
Williams was the driving force behind his daughters’ early fascination with tennis and remained their coach up until a few years ago. Richard and Lakeisha Williams were married in 2010 and have a 3-year-old son.
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