Brazilian President Lula da Silva in Intensive Care After Emergency Surgery on Brain Bleed

Mar. 15, 2025

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia.Photo:Ton Molina/NurPhoto via Getty

Ton Molina/NurPhoto via Getty

Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has undergone emergency brain surgery.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, apost on Xfrom the president’s official account shared that da Silva had been transported to the Sirio-Libanes Hospital in São Paulo on Monday, Dec. 9 after he complained of an intense headache.

A MRI scan found that he had an “intracranial hemorrhage" related to an accident he suffered at home on October 19.

While at the hospital, da Silva, 79, underwent a craniotomy — a surgical procedure in which part of the skull is removed to access the brain, per theMayo Clinic— in order to drain the bleed, the social media post added.

In a news conference on Tuesday morning, the hospital said that Lula was “lucid” after his surgery, reported theBBC.

The outlet added that presidential spokesman, Paulo Pimenta, had stated that da Silva would remain at the ICU for at least another 48 hours.

“He is stable, conscious and calm,” Mr Pimenta said, per the BBC.

Several Brazilian leaders took to social media to wish the president well after the news broke including Brazilian Labor Minister Luiz Marinho. He wrote in a translatedpost on Xthat he wished a “speedy and full recovery” for da Silva and added, “Get well soon!”

The surgery comes two months after da Silva fell in the bathroom of his home in the Alvorada Palace and hit his head, according toEl PaísandNBC News. He was transported to the hospital where he received several stitches to the back of his head, above his neck, per the outlets.

At the time, the president had been planning to travel to the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. However, the trip had to be cancelled due to the accident, per NBC News.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paulo on Friday, May 5, 2023.Ronaldo Silva/NurPhoto via Getty

Ronaldo Silva/NurPhoto via Getty

According toEl País, da Silva had been experiencing a headache and drowsiness while meeting with leaders of Congress at the Planalto Palace on Monday, Dec. 9, and had felt unwell throughout the afternoon. Due to his symptoms, his medical team decided to transport him to the hospital for scans, which eventually detected the brain hemorrhage.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

An aide told the newspaper that following the surgery, da Silva was in and out of consciousness: “He wakes up [feeling] groggy, goes back to sleep, wakes up [again]… Everything as expected."

This isn’t the first time the Brazilian president has undergone surgery during his term. He previously underwent surgery to have a lump in his through removed in November 2022 and was fitted for a hip prosthesis in September 2023.

source: people.com