The legendary Puerto Rican basketball player José 'Piculín' Ortiz announced this Wednesday that he suffers from colorectal cancer, the disease of which he assured that he will face the "maximum possible", just as he did on the court for 25 years.
"I have some way of communicating to him, as I have always been, of dealing with my situations and I have characterized myself for it," Ortiz begins in a video that he posted today on his social networks with his wife, Sylvia Ríos. Ortiz, 60, did not reveal the stage of his cancer, which was discovered after having a colonoscopy.
"It's not easy, but within the family we are all very positive, and in some way, obviously with the expectation of what we can do along the way," added the four-time Olympian.
The former athlete assured that together with a group of doctors "who are with us fighting the battle and contributing their grain of sand and knowledge," he will face colorectal cancer, one of the first three with the highest mortality in Puerto Rico. However, Ortiz assured: "I am going to give my best as I did on the court and in other difficult moments, and we ask you to pray for us, for this servant."
Given all this, the former player of CAI Zaragoza, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Unicaja, among others, and who was selected in 1987 in the NBA rookie draft by the Utah Jazz, recommended to all people between 45 and 50 Get a colonoscopy if you suspect cancer.
"Cancer has no cure, but the cure is prevention itself. I thought it was something else, but when I have a colonoscopy it turns out that I have that cancer," he admitted.
"I am going to fight and on our part, thank you for your prayers, your good vibes and that you know from us that we are very grateful. For God's sake, we are going to turn out well and with the attitude that we may have, whether it is the same or identical from when I was on the court," he noted.
