'I almost died': Christiaan Bezuidenhout survived rat poison poisoning at 2 but it took a heavy toll on his life after
C
hristiaan Bezuidenhout, the 31 year old South African pro golfer, has proved his worth with his skills and is considered to be one of the most talented golfers in the recent times.
Currently, Christiaan Bezuidenhout is busy playing at The Open Championship but the star player went through a series of traumatic health issues because of a mistake he made when he was just 2 years old.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout drank rat poison when he was 2 years old and it cost him his health
In 2020, Christiaan Bezuidenhout opened up about a huge mistake he made when he was 2 years old that cost him his health and he almost ended up losing his life.
Shockingly, when Christiaan Bezuidenhout was 2 years old, he had found a bottle of Coca Cola by the street.
Being as young as he was back then, the pro golfer picked it up and drank it, not knowing it was laced with rat poison.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout opened up about the incident in 2020 and said, 'At the hospital, they basically told my parents we got there just in time. It was a matter of minutes. I almost died.'
Christiaan Bezuidenhout's mistake had severe long term health implications that even affected his career
While the doctors were able to save Christiaan Bezuidenhout's life that day, the rat poison had affected his health severely for a long time.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout added, 'The poison affected the whole nervous system, and one of the long-term effects led to me having a stutter….I went on to see various speech therapists. I was pretty much a loner growing up… Golf was like an escape from my circumstances.'
However, that's not all; Christiaan Bezuidenhout even opened up about how he would not speak about his achievements in public because of his anxiety and 'shame' around his stutter.
When Christiaan Bezuidenhout got banned in 2014 because of a drug test
But things changed in 2014 when Christiaan Bezuidenhout was banned when he went for the British Amateur Championship; this had completely devastated the star player.
In 2014, Christiaan Bezuidenhout had tested positive in a drug test; but it turned out to be the beta blockers he had been taking for the speech issues caused by the rat poison.
While the ban was lifted in nine months, it changed Christiaan Bezuidenhout's personality and today, he is one of the most talented players in the world.
Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
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