Brazil's Lula bounces back after emergency surgery

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was discharged on Sunday from a Sao Paulo hospital following emergency surgery to treat an intracranial haemorrhage.

- AFP

"I am here in one piece... returning home calmly," the 79-year-old leftist leader said as he made an appearance at a news conference with his medical team at Hospital Sirio-Libanes.

Lula had successful surgery last week in which doctors drilled through his skull to relieve pressure that built up after a blow to the head in October, when he fell in a bathroom in his presidential residence in the capital Brasilia.

He underwent a follow-up operation on Thursday to minimise the risk of further bleeding in the affected area of the protective intracranial membranes. The president can resume activities but will need to take it easy for 15 days, cardiologist Roberto Kalil said.