Out of curiosity?

Does any one know if Pete Sampras was a thal minor or minima (one or two alpha gene deletion). 

I have a 15 month old boy with thal minor (2 gene deletion-with southeast asian descent).  He has more energy than I do.  He loves watching me play basketball and we bought him a mini-hoop which he plays with all the time.  I am guessing that he will want to be an athlete one day and I don't want him to feel that he will be limited by his thalassemia, so I would like to be able to tell him that Pete Sampras shared the same condition with him; but if Sampras is a one gene deletion minor than it is not necessarily true.  Sorry that I am a stickler for the facts-but I am a biological scientist by training and it is hard for me to lie, especially to my son.

Also, if anyone can share with me positive experiences of athletic feats by thalassemics, I would be greatly appreciative. 

Thanks,

Will (New Member)

Yes, Pete Sampras is a thal minor. If you search for his name on this site you will find several threads that mention him. Sampras learned to conserve his energy and also was skilled enough to be able to dispatch opponents quickly, thereby avoiding extended matches that might have tired him.  Thal minor should be no barrier to your son playing sports. Lisa, the founder of this site played little league baseball in the boys league. She was a major.

Hi Will,
to the site.

You will find about this in the Trivia section of Pete in Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Sampras#Trivia

Plus you will know about other notable Thal. personalities like Zinedine Zidane on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassemia#Notable_patients


Your son is probably Alpha Thal. Minor. I don't know if these personalities are Alpha or Beta Thal. Minor.

Hope to see your son in the list one day

Hey thanks for the quick responses to my post.  This is a great website with some great people. 

-Will