“We continue here, in the fight and in faith. One more night together,” wrote Pele’s daughter Kelly on Instagram along with a touching picture of herself in the arms of her dying father, an oxygen line visible, her sister Flavia in the background resting on a hospital room sofa.
The left hand of the man who so often raised it in celebration of goals that brought so much joy to football fans around the world rests on her right arm as he lays on a slightly inclined hospital bed, his fingers stretched open as if to embrace as much of her daughter as his strength allows.
It is a picture of love. A daughter, cuddling on the chest of her father as children and babies do. The moment is all the moments of time. There are special times in life, there are special people, there are special things we must do. The bond that begins at birth holding them together until the end.
It feels intrusive to stare at the picture his family posted. It is an intimate father-daughter moment; it is an intimate moment at a time when moments count more than others.
It is a special time. And the world is there too, his country, Brazil, his fans around the world, football in general there, in heart and spirit, in awe of the thin bonds between life and eternity.
As Christmas bells toll, Pele’s family hopes that the more somber toll is not for the man who has given so much joy to the football world, to Brazil, and to the world outside of sport. There is genuine hope in Brazil he does not slip this time among us.
The picture truly captures all the moments in the times of the great Pele.
It was just days ago that his daughters posted a picture of Flavia massaging her father’s leg as the football king watched the World Cup final.
At the Argentinian victory, a statement from Pelé was posted that united the moment with the life and legacy of Diego Maradona. “I am sure Diego is smiling now,” said the congratulatory posting.
But it was also a posting that put his own legacy and football leadership into context: “Today, football continues to tell its story, as always in an exciting way. Leo Messi winning his first World Cup, as his career deserved. My dear friend Kylian Mbappé scoring four goals in a final. What a gift it was to see this spectacle for the future of our sport. And I couldn't stop congratulating Morocco on the incredible campaign. It's great to see Africa shine.”
A medical bulletin from Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Israelite hospital, Latin America’s premier medical center, recently confirmed that the cancer was progressing and affecting vital organs. “Edson Arantes do Nascimento presents progression of the oncological disease and requires greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunctions.”
But now, online news portal Infobae is reporting that it has accessed information that the idol is in intensive care and isolated, cared for by his wife Marcia Aoki and these two daughters.
As THE WEEK reported recently, daughter Kelly made her way to her father’s side from her home and career in the United States.
“Pelé can barely speak. His health is deeply deteriorated: his lungs and his only remaining kidney began to fail,” says the Infobae report. “His heart still responds, although it is expected that he may suffer some complications in the short term. The doctors at the hospital are now fighting to prevent the effects of an even greater involution of his condition.
“The relatives and the Brazilian government authorities are already aware of the delicate health of the former soccer player," continued the Infobae report. “And they begin to organize his funeral: the plan would be to hold an intimate wake for the family and after a few days open the Santos stadium.”
Santos is the club from the eponymous city in Sao Paulo state where Pele began his career in 1956 as a child of 16, the earliest Brazilian law permits. Santos is the only Brazilian club Pele ever represented.
He has been hospitalised since November 29. The latest medical bulletin said that he has recovered fully from the respiratory infection, but the colon cancer, which he has been fighting since his 2021 diagnosis, is progressing, now affecting his heart and kidneys, according to hospital officials.
According to the Mayo Clinic, heart and kidney failure increases the risk of mortality in elderly patients.
Infobae’s report is shocking because it comes on the heels of some more hopeful and upbeat comments from family following a news story by Folha de Sao Paulo that the football icon had been placed under palliative care. It said: "Because of the evolution of his clinical status, because of the condition of his oncological disease, as much the 82-year-old patient as his families are undergoing a sensible process: They begin to say goodbye.”
For fans, the sounds of Christmas in Brazil are wrapped in a quiet beyond description this Christmas Eve. The country is staring together at the hardest mile in life. The man who has been its pride and national idol is at the gateway between life and death.
