Brazilian football legend, Pele has taken to his verified Instagram page to thank God for successful surgery on Monday, September 6, 2021.
The 80-year-old football legend underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his colon during the weekend. Before he came to social media to give an update on his health status, the speculation was that the Brazilian football legend had been hospitalized for 6 days.
Initially, media reports claimed that the former Santos and New York Cosmos forward had fainted and had to undergo a routine medical examination.
However, Pele came out with a statement confirming that there was nothing like that. He went on to reveal that a medical examination had confirmed that he had a tumor in the right colon.
The tumor removal surgery is the second major surgery that Pele has had in 6 years. Recall that in 2015, he had prostate surgery. Before the surgery, he had to be admitted to the hospital on two different occasions in 6 months.
Pele’s health continued to deteriorate as he was confined to a wheelchair after his 2015 surgery. In 2019, Pele made headlines when he was admitted to a hospital over a urinary infection-related illness.
A year later, the Brazilian all-time highest goalscorer reportedly suffered self-esteem issues. One of his sons, Edinho came out with a statement that Pele felt embarrassed that he could no longer walk unaided.
In a picture Pele posted on his verified Instagram page on Monday, September 6, 2021, the football icon could be seen holding a white ball while wearing a Brazilian jersey.
In the caption, he thanked the doctors that operated on him on Saturday, September 4, 2021, and added that he is used to celebrating victories with his 7.1 million Instagram followers.
Pele wrote: “My friends, thank you very much for the kind messages. I thank God for feeling very well and for allowing Dr. Fábio and Dr. Miguel to take care of my health. Last Saturday I underwent surgery to remove a suspicious lesion in the right colon. The tumor was identified during the tests I mentioned last week.
“Fortunately, I’m used to celebrating great victories alongside you. I will face this match with a smile on my face, a lot of optimism and joy for living surrounded by the love of my family and friends.”
Pele is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He has scored about 1,279 goals in 1,363 appearances during his career according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
He is one of the four players in the history of the FIFA World Cup that scored at least a goal in four different World Cup tournaments.
Before he retired from international football, Pele scored 77 goals in 91 games for Brazil. He helped the country to win three FIFA World Cup trophies – 1958, 1962, and 1970.
