Brazil's President Lula out of intensive care, walks hospital hallway

SAO PAULO: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left intensive care on Friday (Dec 13,) Sao Paulo's Sirio-Libanes Hospital said in a medical note, as he recovers from two operations earlier this seek to relieve bleeding and prevent any more in his skull.

The 79-year-old Lula is now in "semi-intensive care," his doctors said in the note, adding that the leftist leader "remains lucid, is eating normally and walked through the hallways."

Doctors operated on Lula for about two hours on Tuesday to drain bleeding between his brain and meningeal membrane, which they said was linked to a fall at his home in late October.

The president underwent a second procedure on Thursday, a middle meningeal artery embolization, aimed at minimizing the risk of future bleeding. He later had a drain removed from his head without complications.

Lula da Silva declared he was "strong and steady" Friday, in a video of him walking around unassisted after emergency surgery earlier this week.

"Please rest assured. I am strong and steady! I am walking the halls... talking a lot, eating well and, soon, ready to return home and continue working and taking care of every Brazilian family," he wrote on X and other social media.

The video included in the post showed him walking a hospital corridor with his neurosurgeon, Marcos Stavale. 

The president, wearing blue casual wear, sports a bandage on top of his head where the surgery occurred.

In the accompanying message, Lula thanked the public for the prayers and words from well-wishers, passed on by his wife, and said he looked forward to "many meetings in Brazil and around the world" in the coming year.

"Thank you for your affection and for all the dedication of the medical team. The love I receive keeps me always ready to move on!" he wrote.

They were the first public images of Lula, 79, since Monday, when doctors detected intracranial bleeding related to a bad fall he had in October and rushed him to the Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo.

Despite the doctors restricting visits to family members and saying the president needed to rest, Lula has been sporadically carrying out some of his duties while convalescing.

He has been speaking with officials and signing documents electronically, ministers said.

Lula's vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, has been taking on some of the president's workload but the presidency has not officially tapped him to assume full presidential duties.

The latest medical emergency adds to a list of health problems Lula has suffered over the years, including treatment in 2011 for throat cancer, and a hip replacement operation last year.

The Brazilian president's medical emergency this week started when he complained Monday of a headache while in Brasilia. 

An MRI scan found a hemorrhage between his brain and the dura mater membrane that protects it, prompting his swift transport to the Hospital Sirio-Libanes -- the country's top medical facility -- for the surgery.

After suffering his fall on October 19, Lula told an official from his Workers' Party that the accident had been "serious."

In the weeks following, the president skipped planned overseas trips. But from mid-November he resumed his active schedule, hosting a G20 summit in Rio and attending a Mercosur summit last week in Uruguay.

Left-wing Lula took up his current mandate in January 2023 after beating the previous, far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, in a tightly fought 2022 election.