Pelé, who is a football legend, will spend the Christmas holidays in a hospital after learning that his cancer has progressed.
The three-time World Cup winner, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, has been undergoing chemotherapy in his battle against cancer since September 2021, when he had a bowel tumor removed.
His daughter, Kelly Cristina Nascimento, went to Instagram on Thursday to share the changed holiday plans, writing: “Our Christmas home has been put on hold. We have decided with the doctors that for several reasons it would be better for us to stay here with all the care this new family at Einstein gives us!!
“We, as always, thank you for all the love you show us here in Brazil and around the world! Your love for him and your stories and prayers are a HUGE comfort as we know we are not alone,” she added. “We’re going to make this room a Sambódromo (just kidding), we’re even going to make caipirinhas (no kidding!!). We wish everyone celebrating a Christmas full of family, full of kids, some fights and MUCH love and health!!
The Brazilian soccer star is being treated at the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo. In a statement on Wednesday, hospital officials said his cancer has progressed and is under “enhanced care” related to “kidney and heart dysfunction,” the Associated Press reported.
In early December, two of his daughters said the football star had been hospitalized for treatment of a heart attack respiratory infection exacerbated by COVID-19. At that point the AP reported that the hospital said Pele was responding well to treatment for the infection, but in the latest update, the AP reported that the hospital did not report any signs of the former athlete’s recent respiratory infection.
Earlier this month, the legend itself arrived posted on social mediathank all his fans for the positivity and good wishes.
“Friends, I want to keep everyone calm and positive. I am strong, with a lot of hope and I follow my treatment as usual. I want to thank the entire medical and nursing team for all the care I received,” Pelé wrote on Instagram. “I have great faith in God and every message of love I receive from you around the world energizes me. And also watch Brazil at the World Cup! Thanks for everything.”
One of the most outstanding footballers in the world, Pelé played professionally in Brazil for two decades. During that time, he was a member of Brazilian national teams that won three World Cup championships in 1958, 1962, and 1970. Later in his career, he joined the New York Cosmos. The football superstar was also named FIFA Co-Player of the Century in 1999.
