The legendary boxer, Muhammad Ali, was recently honored at a charity gala in Washington. Suffering from Parkinson's Disease, The Greatest was unable to attend. His daughter, however, did attend and shared a daughter's love for her father.
At a charity gathering to honor former heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, in Washington, D.C., on Thursday night, Ali’s daughter, Hana, was there to honor her father. The man known to everyone as The Greatest was unable to attend the charity function due to complications from his long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Hana Ali, 39, attended the Ali memorabilia event to represent the family. She is the third youngest of Ali’s nine children from four wives, according to USA Today via Boxing Junkie. The affair was held at the Washington Hilton, and all of the Muhammad Ali memorabilia was being auctioned off to aid such charities as Fight for the Children based in Washington, DC.
Hana wandered around and excitedly took as many pictures as she could and tried to relay them back to her father at his Facebook page. “He would love this,” she remarked. “He is his biggest fan. He’s humble but at the same time he knows the impact he has in the world and enjoys being Muhammad Ali even now.”
Together with her father, Hana wrote a small book entitled The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on a Life’s Journey. It is not a book about the three-time heavyweight champion’s career but a more serious book with quotes and reflections and spiritual stories and anecdotes reflecting the more religious and serious side of her father. She believes it has really helped illuminate the reasons why so many people have loved him for so long.
She says that Ali, now 73, is handling the progressive and debilitating Parkinson’s as well as can be expected and that he is currently in no pain. Hana lives in Los Angeles and drives down to Scottsdale, Ariz., whenever she can to visit him. She says that he can still talk for short periods of time. She says there are always times when she is driving with him and he presses his face against the window until someone recognizes him. She said that he still loves to make people smile. She believes the major reason her father remains so willing to continue the battle is his tremendous spiritualism and faith.
“He doesn’t ask questions; he doesn’t wonder why,” Hanna said. “He just lives his life everyday to the fullest. I think that’s important.”
