Brazil's Lula Undergoes Emergency Brain Surgery

President has hematoma drained following a fall in October
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 10, 2024 8:26 AM CST
After a Fall, Brazil's President Has Brain Surgery
The back of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's head shows stitches resulting from a fall, as seen in Brasilia, Brazil, on Oct. 25, 2024.   (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is recovering in an intensive care unit after undergoing emergency surgery for an intracranial hemorrhage, the Sirio-Libanes Hospital said in a statement early Tuesday. The procedure was performed after the 79-year-old leftist leader felt headaches doctors believed resulted from a fall at home nearly two months ago, per the AP. The hospital said Lula, who traveled from the capital of Brasilia to be treated 620 miles south in Sao Paulo, is "well" and "under monitoring in an ICU bed" after the bleeding was drained.

A further statement issued on Lula's social media accounts said the procedure was "uneventful," per the New York Times. Meanwhile, the president's cardiologist, Dr. Roberto Kalil, says Lula "is now stable, speaking normally, [and] eating," reports the Guardian. The Times notes that Lula's initial injury took place in October in one of the bathrooms at his presidential residence, when he took a tumble while moving off of a stool he was sitting on to cut his nails.

Lula canceled a trip to Russia for a BRICS summit after the accident, his office said at the time, per the AP. The accident left him with a cut visible on the back of his head, slightly above his neck. Kalil says that Lula's hematoma was "completely drained" and that the Brazilian leader "suffered no brain injury and has no neurological impairment," per the Guardian. The president's medical team also says that, if he recovers well, he should eventually be able to get back to traveling internationally, including via air travel. (More Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X