Pele’s family speaks out about difficult hospitalization as soccer great battles advanced cancer
Brazilian soccer legend Pele remains hospitalized in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after being admitted on November 29, 2021.
The 82-year-old three-time World Cup winner is suffering from advanced cancer and is currently under “elevated care” for kidney and cardiac dysfunctions, according to doctors at Albert Einstein hospital.
Pele’s family has been by his side throughout his hospitalization, with one of his daughters, Kely Nascimento, stating that the family has been experiencing “moments of sadness and despair.”
“These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes it is a lot of sadness and despair, in other moments we laugh and speak about fun memories,” Kely Nascimento said on Instagram.
“And what we learn the most from all of this is that we have to seek one another, hold each other tight. That’s the only way this is worth it. Everyone together,” she wrote.
There has been no update on Pele’s condition from the hospital in the past week. Pele had a colon tumor removed in September 2021, though it is unclear if the cancer has spread to other organs. Pele is widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time, having scored 77 goals for Brazil and leading the team to victory in the 1958, 1962, and 1970 World Cups.
