Several family members of football icon Pelé (82) have spoken out positively after the uncertainty surrounding his health in recent days.
– Guys, that’s not true. Believe it. She’s not in intensive care. He’s in a normal room, so he’s not in danger. He is being treated, says his daughter Flavia Nascimento in an interview with Brazilian TV The globe late Sunday evening Norwegian time.
The fear that one of football’s biggest stars was leaving us spread quickly when several Brazilian and international media reported that Pele had stopped responding to the chemotherapy he had received in connection with his cancer diagnosis.
The 82-year-old is currently hospitalized at Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo, and in a statement from the hospital on Saturday evening, it said Pelé was in stable condition after being admitted to battle colon cancer.
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Pele himself was on Instagram a couple of hours after the hospital statement on Saturday, where he wrote, among other things, that he was “strong and had high hopes”. Many of the football legend’s immediate family say in an interview with O Globo that they expect Pele to be released from hospital.
– He’s sick, he’s old. But at the moment he is there due to the lung infection. When he’s feeling better, he’ll go home, says their other daughter, Kely Nascimento.
After undergoing cancer surgery a year ago, the 82-year-old visited the intensive care unit but was later discharged. He’s been in and out of the hospital ever since.
The Brazil national team play their round of 16 against South Korea in Qatar at 20:00 on Monday, and Pele said on Instagram that watching Brazil in the current World Cup fills him with energy.
Pelé helped win the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and is the only footballer with three World Cup titles. His nephew Arthur Arantes do Nascimento has great confidence that Pelé will see Brazil lift their first World Cup trophy since 2002.
– Since I use social media a lot, I see a lot of people saying “Rest in peace”. Then I feel like commenting that “it’s not that, guys”. Of course it will happen someday, but not now. He’ll be fine, it’s just a matter of time. He wants to see Brazil win their sixth title, Arthur Arantes tells O Globo.
Kely Nascimento also says that Pele was diagnosed with the coronavirus a few weeks ago.
– About three weeks ago he caught Covid. He is vaccinated with all vaccines, but due to chemotherapy and cancer he is frail and has caught a lung infection. That’s why he went to the hospital, he says.
