Oscar Pistorius Garnering Prayers From Tyler Perry
Oscar Pistorius, the South African double-amputee Olympic sprinter who was recently arrested on allegations of killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, needs prayers, according to filmmaker Tyler Perry.
Perry, the 43-year-old screenwriter, producer and director, recently took to his personal Facebook page to call for the prayers of Pistorius while expressing sadness for the athlete's dead model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
"Tears for Reeva, prayers for Oscar," Perry wrote on his Facebook page. "I'm devastated and heartbroken for these families."
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Pistorius garnered three medals in the Paralympic Games in London last summer. Now, he is being charged with murdering Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria, South Africa. Steenkamp suffered from four gunshot wounds and blows to her head that crushed her skull, according to South Africa's Independent City Press newspaper.
Last October, 43-year-old Perry met 26-year-old Pistorius on the Jay Leno Show and even selected the Olympian to become Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in December. Perry called Pistorius an inspiration in the column he wrote for the publication.
"In my career I was able to overcome a lot of where I came from; that was with all of my limbs," Perry wrote in Sports Illustrated last year. "It's very difficult for me to find the words when I think about Oscar, his life and all that he's done, but he is an inspiration to me every day."
Pistorius lost both of his legs as a child and uses carbon-fiber blades to race. The sprinter was the first amputee athlete to run at the world championships in 2011, according to Sports Illustrated Reports.
Due to the recent allegations made against him, sponsors like Oakley and Nike have publicly stated that they would cut ties with the Olympian.
"In light of the recent allegations, Oakley is suspending its contract with Oscar Pistorius, effective immediately," Oakley representatives said in a Sports Illustrated report.
