Richard Williams has been instrumental in the careers of his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams. Before the sisters were even born, Richard had a dream of enrolling his daughters in a lucrative sport that would prepare them for their future. Serena and Venus Williams are now multi-millionaires who have launched their own companies, with both playing tennis into their early 40s. In recent years, Richard has suffered some major health concerns. The proud father of Venus and Serena Williams had a stroke in 2016, just before Serena began her Wimbledon match. His ex-wife shared his struggles and trouble in an exclusive interview that year.

Following his devastating stroke, Richard Williams experienced irreversible brain damage and dementia.

Serena Williams’ father battling major health scares

Richard was fighting severe health issues during Wimbledon, and neither Serena nor Venus Williams made any mention of them in public. The 2016 Women’s singles champion, Serena, also teamed up with Venus to win the doubles championships the same year.

In an interview highlighting Richard Williams’ condition, his ex-wife Lakeisha Williams said, “To him, he’s a normal person – nothing happened to him… His mind is thinking that they’re going to put him back in ‘prison’, which is what he calls the hospital… His ex-wife further added, “His mind is telling him that since he was once in charge of his life, after what’s happened he’s not accepting it.”

‘His condition is fair – he’s up and walking around but he’s not at 100 per cent,’ Lakeisha said after his discharge from the hospital. She also informed the fans that he needed speech therapy, psychological therapy and physical therapy. However, he refused to follow the doctor’s instructions.

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Richard and Lakeisha were in a relationship since 2009. In 2010, they got married at a county courthouse. The couple had a son, Dylan. But five years after he was born, they started having trouble and got divorced.

Lakeisha battling in court to save Serena’s childhood house

Since her divorce with Richard Williams, Lakeisha has struggled to make ends meet. In 2017, the stepmother of Venus and Serena Williams decided to divorce Richard after eight years of marriage.

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She had allegedly used his forged signature to transfer the house’s deeds to her name and borrowed $250,000. Later on, she spent the money on a failed trucking company. Having filed for bankruptcy on numerous occasions, Lakeisha is on the verge of losing Serena and Venus’ childhood home.