Serena and Venus Williams' 76-year-old father Richard reveals he can hardly speak after two stro
Richard Williams, tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams' father, reveals he is in such a terrible medical condition that he can barely speak and has given power of attorney to his son who acts as his interpreter, Daily Mail reported.
The tennis coach also claims in court documents against his estranged wife Lakeisha, 38, that his signature was forged on mortgage papers which transferred his Florida home into her name.
In the papers filed on November 27, Williams showed examples of his signature from 2002 compared to the 2017 documents he claims bear the forgeries.
His lawyers say if he did sign the documents his 'mental capacity was compromised' from the strokes and he did not understand what he was signing.
The new legal documents submitted to Florida's Palm Beach County Circuit Court reveal just how bad Richard's health has become.
In 2016, it was reported he had suffered one stroke. But court papers show he in fact has had two.
Williams also suffers from a neurological condition which affects his mouth and means he can only speak through his son 45-year-old Chavoita LeSane, who has now been given power of attorney.
LeSane is CEO of Florida-based music promotion company ChaVam and helped negotiate the deal for his father's 2014 memoir 'Black and White: The Way I See It' with publishing house Simon & Schuster.
In the acknowledgement section of the book, Williams wrote: 'Chavoita LeSane, my son, who brought us all together and tirelessly kept this project alive when others would have faltered. He deserves great credit.'
Recent photos from LeSane's Instagram show his father looking a shadow of the man who once drove his daughters, Serena, 37 and Venus, 38, to tennis majors' success.
Chavoita LeSane takes selfies with his stroke victim father Richard Williams as they watch Chavoita's younger sister Venus Williams compete in the WTA Miami Open in March this year
Stroke victim Richard Williams (pictured right) poses with son Chavoita LeSane, older brother of Venus and Serena, who acts as an interpreter for Williams
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