Brazil’s 79-year-old President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is recovering from emergency surgery after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage, has a long history of health problems and mishaps.
But just as in politics, the hyperactive leftist — who is half-way through his third term — has bounced back from every misfortune.
– Lost a finger –
In 1964, when he was a metalworker in a car parts factory, Lula lost the little finger on his left hand in a workplace accident.
Lula, who was 19 at the time, said that a press broke and, when he tried to fix it, his finger was crushed.
He went on to become a trade union leader before entering politics.
– Hypertension scare –
Lula was forced to cancel a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2010 after being admitted to hospital with alarmingly high blood pressure.
He was 64 years old at the time and nearing the end of his second term.
Doctors said he was suffering from stress and fatigue after a bout of flu.
He was discharged from hospital after a few hours and subsequently quit smoking after fifty years.
– Larynx cancer –
After leaving power in 2011, at 66, he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Doctors announced he had made a full recovery the following year, although his once-booming voice was left with a hoarseness that became a trademark on his campaign trail return.
During the 2022 presidential race, which marked his stunning return to power after a year and a half behind bars on corruption charges, some of his opponents questioned his health because of his weak voice.
Three weeks after his re-election, he underwent surgery to remove a lesion from his vocal cords.
– Hip replacement –
In September 2023, he received a hip replacement to relieve pain that had been bothering him for over a year.
Lula suffers from osteoarthritis, or wear and tear on the cartilage that protects joints.
The image-conscious president has since published videos of himself doing exercises in the presidential residence.
– Bathroom fall –
On October 19, 2024, he fell in his bathroom and hit his head, for which he received stitches.
Following that accident, he canceled his participation in a meeting of the BRICS bloc in Russia and worked from his official residence for several days.
– Hemorrhage in head –
Doctors on Monday discovered an intracranial hemorrhage related to the fall, for which the president underwent emergency surgery in the early hours of December 10 in Sao Paulo.
His medical team assured he did not suffer any brain damage.
He will remain under observation in intensive care for the next 48 hours and will remain hospitalized until next week, doctors said.
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