The usually vociferous and upbeat “Papa” Ball, who famously led his sons LaMelo and Lonzo to successful stints in the NBA, recently shared his harrowing experience with diabetes complications that resulted in him having part of his right leg amputated. Now he’s using his platform to encourage others about the importance of taking care of your health and not ending up as he did.

“I had an infection on my foot that started spreading through my blood due to not paying attention to my diabetes,” Ball wrote. “I ended up having to get my leg amputated. First, they cut off a couple of toes. Then they cut off my foot. Then they said, ‘We gotta go almost knee high for another surgery.’ Three surgeries. And then there were also the blood transfusions. Not one, not two, not three, four different times.

He says he wanted to give up on numerous occasions but his sons kept him going. ‘Dad you’re the toughest dude I know.’ That made me keep going. … It was good to have that backing from my boys. One of the things that makes me go is when they are all together. When they are all together, I feel strong.”

“From my experience the last couple months, I want to get in people’s heads the importance of taking care of your health — especially Black people, because sometimes we’re not trying to go to the hospital, we will try to sleep it off or say, ‘Yeah, we’ll get to it later,'” Ball wrote. “And sometimes it’s a little more serious than what you think. Read full article in Slam Magazine>

To learn more about amputation prevention and to schedule a consultation, contact Central Coast Vein & Vascular. Contact>