‘Suck It Up and Deal With It’- Heart-Wrenching Battles of Young Cancer Patients Forces Martina Navratilova To Undergo a Drastic Perspective Shift

It was the second time that Martina Navratilova came across the unknown. In 2010, she had an arduous battle with cancer, and when she thought things were over; it happened again. However, this time it came back with an assertion. Discovering that, she has two types of cancers left Navratilova feeling exhausted. However, seeing young patients around led her to see her diagnosis from a different perspective.

Obviously, after being diagnosed and battling cancer once, she was not looking forward to it again. However, this was not in her control, so seeing things from a different perspective definitely set her mind on the right track. In a candid conversation with Piers Morgan, she opened up about one change in perspective that helped her in collecting herself for the fight once again.

Martina Navratilova on the grounding experience by seeing younger patients

The news of knowing that she has been diagnosed with two types of cancers broke Navratilova. The shock was evident because she could not fathom how two unrelated cancers can surface at one given point in time.

However, in an interview with Piers Morgan, she opened up about seeing other cancer patients during her treatment. Knowing that there were kids as young as newborns gave her a reality check.

Seeing kids getting treated at the same place where she got treated, she stated, “Cancer is very democratic, probably doesn’t care who you are.”

Dwelling on the sad reality of cancer, she said, “We’re all in a kind of same boat but different boats because they don’t know if they’re gonna be cured. I knew my chances were pretty good.”

After seeing the kids she realized she was in a privileged position. Navratilova stated, “But when you see kids, you really start feeling sorry, because parents go through, the kids may not even know what they are going through.”

The adults know their way around the treatment. They know what is happening to them but that is not true for the younger ones.

She said, “There were kids 6-8 months old, toddlers, children, newborns. And they’ve to put them to sleep to do the treatment so that they don’t move. That’s when you don’t feel sorry for yourself. It’s okay, just gotta suck it up and deal with it.”

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Experiencing the trauma of knowing that she has gotten cancer once again was undoubtedly scarring. However, Navratilova realized she was in a well-off position as compared to these kids who did not even know what was happening to them.

Chris Evert led Navratilova to accept her “softie” nature

Fighting cancer again after all these years took an emotional toll on Navratilova. Moreover, knowing that there were two cancers instead of one was gloomy for her. However, she is trying to fight it bravely.

Along with the heartfelt recovery wishes, her arch-rival Chris Evert was trying to bring out the tennis legend’s soft corner by dedicating her a song, ‘Lean On Me’ by Bill Withers. This was enough to let go of that strong exterior and Navratilova embraced her “softie” nature with tears in her eyes. 

WATCH THIS STORY: Chris Evert Looks Back at Her Astounding Rivalry With Martina Navratilova and the Negative Impact of Her 13-Match Losing Streak

This shows that no matter who you are and how much you have, in times of distress a word of affirmation can make or break a person.