Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was released from a Sao Paulo hospital on Sunday (December 15) after emergency surgery last week to treat an intracranial hemorrhage.

“I’m here in one piece… I’m going home,” the 79-year-old left-wing leader said in a surprise appearance at a news conference of his medical team at Sirio-Libanes Hospital .

Lula successfully underwent surgery on Tuesday in which doctors drilled into his skull to relieve pressure built up after a blow to the head in October, when he fell into the toilet of his presidential residence.

On Thursday, he underwent a follow-up operation to minimize the risk of further bleeding in the affected area of ​​the protective intracranial membranes.

The president can resume his activities but will have to relax for 15 days, cardiologist Roberto Kalil said during the press conference.

Lula will remain in Sao Paulo until Thursday, when he will undergo follow-up examinations. Once cleared, he will be able to return to Brasilia and resume his normal routine.

“The only restriction is physical exercise,” Kalil said.

Another doctor, Ana Helena Germoglio, said Lula’s recovery had “exceeded expectations.”

Known for his frenetic work pace, Lula burst into Sunday’s press conference without warning and approached the microphones, walking unassisted.

He spoke to reporters wearing a fedora-style hat, apparently to conceal signs of his procedures.

Lula’s medical emergency began when he complained of headaches last Monday while in Brasilia.

An MRI revealed hemorrhage between his brain and the dura membrane that protects it, leading to his rapid transport to Sirio-Libanes Hospital, the country’s top medical facility, for the operation.

After suffering his fall on October 19, Lula told an official of his Workers’ Party that the accident had been “serious.”

In the weeks that followed, the president avoided planned trips abroad. But from mid-November he returned to his active schedule, hosting a G20 summit in Rio and attending a Mercosur summit in Uruguay.

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 hip replacement surgery last year.

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