In the early hours of April 15, 1912, 21-year-old Richard Norris Williams plunged into the freezing Atlantic as the Titanic sank. For hours, he fought numbness and the biting cold before being rescued. His legs were so badly frostbitten that doctors urged amputation.
But Williams refused to give up. He forced himself to walk every two hours, keeping the blood flowing against all odds.
That very year, with those same legs, he won the US National Tennis Championship in mixed doubles. His resilience didn’t stop there—he went on to claim five Grand Slam titles and, in 1924, despite a sprained ankle, won Olympic gold in Paris.
Richard Norris Williams didn’t just survive history’s most famous shipwreck—he built his own legacy with every step and swing on the court.
