Buenos Aires Herald 
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was discharged from hospital after successfully recovering from an emergency head surgery performed on Tuesday. However, he will remain in São Paulo at least until a scheduled head scan on Thursday.
Wearing a Panama hat to hide the bandages, Da Silva appeared in the middle of the medical team’s press conference, smiling, walking, and speaking normally. He thanked the doctors, as well as God and all the people who prayed for him. “Those who were hateful are also forgiven, because I am here, alive, whole, with much more will to work,” he said.
Visibly moved, Lula said he was scared and worried during his six-day-long stay at a hospital in São Paulo. “I never think about dying, but I am afraid. So, I have to take care of myself.”
Da Silva said he has to “lay low for 60 days” but can still work normally, although doctors advised him to minimize stress and avoid flights in the meantime. After leaving the hospital, he went to his São Paulo home and will be able to return to the presidential residence in Brasilia if an upcoming head scan shows positive results.
According to doctors, the president was scheduled to be discharged on Monday or Tuesday, but they decided to send him home on Sunday because he recovered “faster than expected.” However, they advised him to stay in São Paulo, close to the medical team, in case any issues arose before Thursday.
“I only realized how serious this was after the surgery was over, and my head was like brand new,” Da Silva said.
The Brazilian president went to a hospital in Brasilia on Monday after suffering severe headaches. An MRI scan showed internal bleeding in his head. He was then transferred to another unit of the same hospital in São Paulo, where doctors operated on his skull to drain a hematoma.
The hematoma was a result of an accident he had in his home back in October. In the press conference, Lula said he was cutting his fingernails in the bathroom while sitting on a stool. When he stood up, he slipped and hit his head with the bathtub.
He received medical attention and several head scans at the time, which showed no issues with his head. Although he missed some international commitments, he went back to his normal life because he thought he was “cured and could do anything,” including the intense exercises he usually does, like running or lifting weights.
On Friday, Lula had shared a video on X of himself walking around the hospital with one of his doctors, after he was discharged from the intensive care unit.
“You know I always claim my right to live until 120 years old,” Da Silva, who is 79, joked. “The person who will live until 120 has already been born, and I think I have a right to claim that is me.”
