By Gina Gomez
Los Angeles, July 15, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Arthur Ashe Courage Award which was announced during the ESPYs held at the Nokia Theater yesterday night, has rewarded the family of Ed Thomas - the football coach who had lost his life to a gun fired at him by 24 year old Mark Becker. According to the organizers, the deceased family are the deserving winners of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award because they had the heart to forgive the killer of their loved one.

Jan Thomas, the wife of Ed Thomas received the award on behalf of the entire family. Also accompanying her on the occasion were the couple’s two sons Aaron and Todd. Mark Becker, who had launched the fatal attack in the month of June last year has been subjected to imprisonment for life following the incident which took away Ed Thomas’ life. It was reported by the US legal authorities that Mark Becker was a mentally challenged person who had earlier been hospitalized and had also undergone treatment for mental sickness.

Speaking to the media after receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, Jan Thomas said that it was their immense faith in the US legal system and the authorities handling the case of the murder of Ed Thomas that helped them out of the grief and pain that the entire family had to go through following the death of Ed Thomas and show courage on the face of adversity. After receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, Ed Thomas’ name can be written alongside that of Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Pat Tillman, the earlier recipients of the award.