Anecdotes of sports medicine - Suzanne Johnson and Neil Gordon

For the tenth edition of the Limburg Congress for Sports Medicine I had invited two prominent figures from the Dallas Cooper Clinic.
Doctor Suzanne Johnson was in that world-famous sports clinic responsible for 'physical education' and would give a practical aerobic demonstration plus the lecture 'Stretching: schedules and practical exercises'.
The second speaker was Doctor Neil Gordon, a cardiologist who had recently made the crossing from South Africa to become responsible for exercise physiology at the Cooper clinic. His lecture was 'Controlling cholesterol levels through exercise'.
I went to pick up my guests at Brussels airport, but to my great surprise only Suzanne Johnson, along with her husband, came into the arrivals hall in panic. Neil Gordon was stopped by the Belgian police and would be flown back to the States on the next plane because he could not show a visa. Yet, in the US he had been assured that he would not be needing it. But because he still had a South African passport he had to submit that document in Belgium. After several phone calls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and thanks to the personal mediation of the Minister, after hours of waiting he finally got permission to enter our country, on condition that he would leave it four days later. A relief for everyone.
But the luggage of the Americans had disappeared because of the whole fuss. In the afternoon we received a phone call from our national airport that the suitcases were found and that we were allowed to come and pick them up. I drove back to Brussels with Suzanne Johnsons' husband, a real cowboy with boots and a Stetson, and on the way I asked him if San Antonio and Dallas were far apart. The following year was the American Congress of Sports Medicine, which I celebrated every year, namely in Dallas, and because I had heard many favorable words about San Antonio, I wanted to visit that city. If it was close to Dallas, I could drive there by rental car. "It's in the neighboorhood," he answered, "only 600 km", to which I replied that the largest distance in Belgium is just 250km.
The following year I went to Dallas and on the last night I was received by Neil Gordon, together with Suzanne Johnson and some of his friends, for a 'braai', the South African word for barbecue. A wonderful evening of which I still have fond memories.