Olympic hero Clarence Hill left to sleep rough
Bermuda’s first Olympic hero has said he wound up sleeping on the streets after losing his government-owned accommodation during a spell in hospital.
The revelation from Clarence Hill comes after a video went viral in which the 1976 bronze medal-winner from the Montreal Games can be seen shirtless in Hamilton and fumbling around for his belongings — triggering widespread condemnation from the online community.
The housing ministry responded that Mr Hill had agreed to forfeit his tenancy ahead of his time spent in hospital for a life-threatening heart condition.
The former heavyweight boxer who fought 20 times as professional in the wake of his history-making feats in Montreal, spoke as his son worked to raise funds with a view to bringing the 74-year-old to England for a better quality of life.
Mr Hill held the distinction as the island’s lone Olympic medal-winner until triathlete Dame Flora Duffy took gold in Tokyo in July 2021.
The contrast between the furore that Dame Flora’s accomplishment attracted from the Bermuda Government and cross-sectional community, and the almost non-existent reception for Mr Hill five decades earlier returned as a talking point in the spiralling debate over the boxer’s descent into homelessness.
Mr Hill told The Royal Gazette: “I believe in the Lord and can come through all of this. I am a heavyweight and got through a whole lot of other stuff, so why can’t I make it through this?
“I am trying my hardest and I am not going to quit. I am fighting a ten-round fight, so I am going to get through the whole ten rounds. It’s not easy, but most fights are not easy.”
Jamaka Kamal, Mr Hill’s 48-year-old son who resides in Birmingham in the English West Midlands, is raising money via a GoFundMe page online in the hope of getting his father settled in Britain.
He said his father had been “seen around the bus terminal with no shirt, no shoes and no home to return to”.
Mr Kamal told the Gazette: “To me, there’s no reason why he should be homeless. Not Clarence Hill. That shouldn’t be. Our first Olympic medal-winner and nowhere to live? He should not have to worry like this in his elder years.”
He said his father was also dealing with early onset Alzheimer’s, which was having a severe impact on his memory.
“His mental capacity is affected, and people are not really seeing that,” Mr Kamal said.
Mr Hill, who has been in and out of hospital for several months, believes he heard during his treatment that he had lost accommodation. But Mr Kamal said his father had “probably forgotten and gone back” to the former residence.
Mr Kamal said his father’s effects were likely in storage.
He added: “I need to get him a plane ticket and make sure he can have a place out here. We can get him registered, get a National Insurance number, and he can get government assistance and be out here with me.”
As of this afternoon, Mr Kamal had raised a little more than £2,500 (about $3,300) towards his goal of £4,000.
Clarence Hill got an early introduction to boxing when he took refuge at a Young Men’s Christian Association facility in New Jersey.
Growing up in Newark, New Jersey, he also took inspiration from the great Muhammad Ali.
Back in Bermuda, he found stability at the Pembroke Youth Centre, where he was the star pupil of the boxing programme.
He became the island’s dominant heavyweight boxer and featured as the headline act in many of the fight cards held at BAA. His winning streak, including representing the island overseas, put him on track for the 1976 Olympic Games.
Mr Hill had three bouts in Montreal, winning two to secure a podium finish before losing in the right to fight Olympic great Teofilo Stevenson, of Cuba, for the gold medal.
In an entry list of 20, he was given a first-round bye, thus entering the final 16, where he knocked out Parviz Badpa, of Iran, in the third and final round.
In his second bout, Mr Hill beat Belgium’s Rudy Gauwe on points before suffering a points defeat by Mircea Simon, of Romania.
He and American John Tate, who lost in a first-round knockout to Stevenson before becoming a world champion within three years of turning pro, were jointly awarded the bronze medal.
Mr Hill’s attempts to follow a similar course were thwarted, and it was not until 1980 that he joined the paid ranks — largely fighting out of England.
He won 17 and drew one of his 20 bouts before retiring in 1986 — the most notable being a nationally televised contest on CBS in 1982 when he challenged top prospect Tony Tubbs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Mr Hill dropped the future WBA champion in the very first round, but went on to suffer a defeat by unanimous decision.
Mr Hill was inducted into Bermuda’s Hall of Fame in August 2005, having been controversially overlooked the year before.
Mr Hill told the Gazette: “I got discharged from the hospital because they said I was well enough to go. I didn’t feel good to go, but the doctor told me I am well enough to go. They put me out so I had to go, and the only place for me to go was my apartment.
“I went home from the hospital figuring my apartment would be still there because it was given to me by Government.
“I go home and someone is living in my apartment with a different door and everything. I knocked on the door and somebody answered and I am wondering why somebody is living in the apartment that Government gave to me for winning the Olympic medal.”
Clarence Hill lived in an apartment managed by the Bermuda Housing Corporation, a spokesman said — but had signed a “formal agreement ending his tenancy” before an extended hospital stay.
A spokesman said Mr Hill had taken the step last year on medical advice that his residence was “no longer suitable for his health needs”.
He added: “Over the following months, BHC staff and social workers worked closely with Mr Hill to secure his belongings and support his transition, making several visits to the property with him to complete this process.
“The ministry and the Bermuda Housing Corporation remain committed to working collaboratively with the relevant agencies to ensure that appropriate support is in place for Mr Hill’s wellbeing.”
No further details were given, in keeping with client confidentiality.
With nowhere else to go, the Bermuda Sports Hall of Fame inductee took refuge on the streets.
He said: “I was sleeping in City Hall on the concrete. Anywhere night caught me, I was sleeping.”
Mr Hill was able to purchase meals with his own money while others offered support.
“People knew me and I had a couple of dollars in my pocket,” he said.
“I had money in the bank so I would go to the bank with my bank book and draw out some money to get something to eat.”
Mr Hill eventually decided enough was enough, and sought refuge back in the hospital.
“I had nowhere else to go, so I came back to the hospital where I was from the beginning,” he said. “I just walked in, found a bed and jumped in it.
“I am being supported being in the hospital. They feed me. Otherwise, if I am on the street, I guess I have to beg, steal or borrow.”
Mr Hill is receiving further treatment for his health condition which he has been dealing with for several months.
“I don’t feel good and it’s my heart, so I am just trying to be cautious and all of that,” he said.
Mr Hill wonders whether his past run-ins with the law and struggles with substance abuse are coming back to haunt him.
He said: “People know the stuff I used to do with my drug addiction, so it could be that catching up with me.
“I don’t do drugs any more. I stopped doing drugs three or four years ago.”
Now his son in Birmingham is keen to find him a new life in Britain.
Mr Kamal said: “They should have never taken his place from him and leave him with nowhere to go once he got out. They didn’t set up some kind of support for him.”
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