Pelé’s family members have gathered at the hospital where the Brazilian soccer legend is being treated for aggravated cancer and kidney and heart problems.
Edinho, Pele’s son, arrived at the São Paulo medical center on Saturday, where he joined his sisters Flavia and Kely Nascimento.
He posted a photo of himself holding the 82-year-old’s hand on Instagram and captioned it: “Dad… my strength is yours.”
The former goalkeeper, who was recently appointed coach of the Londrina Serie B soccer club based in Paraná in the north, arrived a day after he explained his absence with his father to local media.
“I’d love to be here, but I’m committed to my mission here. I’m not a doctor, I couldn’t really help much,” he said in an interview published by the daily newspaper Estadao on Friday.
The same day, Kely shared a photo of herself hugging her father in hospital, with the caption “One more night together.”
Late Saturday, Kely posted a picture of Pele’s wife Marcia Aoki and other family members who had gathered at Albert Einstein Hospital. Pele wasn’t visible in the picture.
“Almost all of us. Merry Christmas Gratitude, love, union, family. The essence of Christmas. Thank you all for all the love and light you send us,” Kely wrote.
On Wednesday, the hospital announced that Pele’s colon cancer was “progressing” and that he needed “more comprehensive treatments to treat kidney and heart failure.”
At the beginning of the day, his daughters had announced that he would not be home for Christmas.
The atmosphere outside the hospital was calm on Saturday, the AFP news agency reported.
Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is considered by many to be the best soccer player of all time and has received several messages of support since his hospital stay, including from French star Kylian Mbappe, who called on his followers to “pray for the king.”
Pele was hospitalized in Sao Paulo on November 29, in what his medical team described as a reevaluation of the chemotherapy treatments he has received since surgery to remove a colon tumor in September 2021.