Former New York Yankees star Bernie Williams, who won three World Series championships between 1996 and 1999, revealed the profound impact his father's battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) had on his life and his approach to health.
Williams described his father as an "indestructible force of nature" who taught him baseball and guitar and was always active. However, a persistent dry cough led to a five-year period of misdiagnoses before his father was finally diagnosed with IPF, a lung disease causing inflammation and scarring. The family initially believed there would be a treatment, but they eventually learned there was no cure.
"We didn’t know anything about it and we really thought that there was going to be something we could do," Williams said. "I said, ‘Yeah, we’ll get over this.’" He recalled the frustration and devastation as his father's condition worsened, becoming bedridden.
Williams attributed his father's delayed medical attention, in part, to an "old school" mentality. This experience taught Williams a crucial lesson about the fragility of life and the importance of proactive self-care.
"My dad had a profound influence on my life and taught me how precious life is, how fragile it can be and how to take every measure that I could to take care of myself physically and mentally," Williams said. He now emphasizes the need to pursue answers when something feels wrong.
Williams is partnering with Boehringer Ingelheim for the "Beyond the Scars" program to raise awareness about ILDs, which affect approximately 200,000 Americans, often with a diagnosis delay of up to two years. He noted that men's lifespans in the U.S. lag behind women's, with men living to an average of 76 years while women live to 81.
Dr. David Shusterman, a urologist, noted that while men may have some biological vulnerabilities, behavior plays a significant role. "The bigger problem is that men tend to practice reactive medicine. They wait until something is obviously wrong," Shusterman previously told The Post. "Ignoring symptoms is not toughness, it is delayed diagnosis."
Many ILD symptoms, such as shortness of breath during daily activities, can be mistaken for normal aging. Williams urged individuals, particularly men, to prioritize their health and seek medical advice promptly, even when symptoms are not immediately apparent or severe. He stressed that breakthroughs in medicine and technology, such as AI and predictive analytics, offer greater opportunities for disease prevention, yet a disconnect remains in getting the public, especially men, to engage with healthcare providers. Aging is real, Shusterman added, but many changes are measurable and treatable, underscoring the importance of consulting a medical professional to determine the root cause of symptoms.