SAO PAULO (REUTERS) – Brazil soccer legend Pele is “recovering well” after colon surgery, his daughter said on Friday (Sept 17), addressing concerns about his health following newspaper reports he had been readmitted to an intensive care unit.
“He is recovering well and within normal range. I promise!” Pele’s daughter Kely Nascimento said on Instagram.
“The normal recovery scenario for a man of his age after an operation like this is sometimes two steps forward and one step back.”
The 80-year-old former Santos, Brazil and New York Cosmos player had a colon tumour removed earlier this month and was transferred out of the ICU on Tuesday.
However, ESPN Brasil and Sao Paulo’s two biggest newspapers reported on Friday he was readmitted to the unit in the city’s Albert Einstein Hospital after suffering from acid reflux.
The hospital and a Pele representative in Santos said they could not confirm those reports.
“Yesterday he was tired and took a little step back,” Pele’s daughter wrote, without directly citing the reports. “Today he took two steps forward!”
She also posted on Instagram a photo that she said “was taken just now” of the three-time World Cup winner wearing a black vest and smiling for the camera.
Pele has suffered from hip problems for years and cannot walk unaided. His public appearances were already being cut before the Covid-19 pandemic and since then he has made few unnecessary forays outside his house near Santos.