President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has left São João Hospital today after emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia – and he did so in his inimitable way: dapper, communicative and full of praise for all those who looked after him.
The thing about this surgery is that it was, in the final analysis, life-saving. Any further delays could have had devastating consequences.
But the 76-year-old head of state (soon to ‘retire’ finally from public life) barely alluded to this dice with the fates. Indeed, as soon as he was able, he was out of his bed and patrolling the wards, asking other patients how they were feeling – and, of course, taking and partaking in the selfies that have become a hallmark of his tenure.
Speaking to journalists before he left hospital today, Marcelo conceded that this was his 4th operation for a hernia of this kind – and this way he was aware of what might have been wrong when he began feeling unwell after a packed schedule on Monday evening.
As for the treatment he received, he was full of praise, saying: “the SNS national health service deserves congratulations once again, from the point of view of the gratitude of the President of the Republic and of the citizen Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who here are one and the same, the patient and the President of the Republic. It is not the first time that I have faced more complicated situations in my two terms and I have always resorted to the national health service in various units.
The national health service plays “an invaluable role” in society in spite of its many problems, he said. “That is why it is often said that it is a great achievement of democracy, but one that needs to be nurtured, renewed, and supported permanently because it has been a guarantee of the health of millions of Portuguese people over these last 50 years.”
Marcelo received a number of visitors during his short stay, one of them being the mayor of Porto Pedro Duarte who described the head of state as “unstoppable” and “a force of nature” who has made what he considers to be “an olympic recovery”, considering the time endured under general anaesthetic and the nature of the procedure itself.
Even so, Marcelo has been told to take it easy for the next two weeks which he seems to have agreed to do. He has delayed two state visits, he told reporters as he left hospital – one of which was to have been to the Vatican.
Bearing in mind the country is ‘gripped’ by the ongoing ‘presidential election campaign’, it may be a good moment to take some R&R and be ready for the last few months of his gruelling 10-year tenure.
The elections for Portugal’s next president take place on January 18, but President Marcelo will remain in office until March, by which time even if the contest runs to a second ballot, his successor will have been chosen.
Source material: LUSA/ SIC
