One of Pelé’s daughters said on Wednesday that she and her family are experiencing moments of sadness and despair as the 82-year-old Brazilian soccer great’s hospitalization approaches a month later.
The three-time World Cup winner’s cancer is advanced and doctors at Albert Einstein Hospital recently said he is under “heightened care” due to “kidney and heart dysfunction”.
Pelé was admitted to the Sao Paulo facility on November 29. The hospital has not published any updates in the past week.
“These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes it’s a lot of sadness and despair, other times we laugh and talk about fun memories,” said Kely Nascimento on Instagram.
Other family members are also in the hospital.
“And what we learn the most from this is that we have to find each other, hold each other tight. That’s the only way this is worth it. Everyone together,” she wrote.
One of Pelé’s sons, Edson Cholbi Nascimento, known as Edinho, came to visit on Saturday, but returned on Tuesday to a city in southern Brazil, where he works as a football coach. He has not spoken to journalists since leaving Sao Paulo.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known worldwide as Pelé, had an intestinal tumor removed in September 2021. Neither his family nor the hospital specified whether it had spread to other organs.
The newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported last weekend that Pelé’s chemotherapy was not working and that the doctors had decided to give him palliative care. Pelé’s family has denied that report.
Pelé led Brazil to victory in the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups and remains one of the all-time top scorers with 77 goals. Neymar equaled Pele’s record at the last World Cup.