The reason was “a sudden drop of tension” caused by the practice of “not having lunch” coupled with a “warm nutmeg toast which must have interacted with the digestion of the Fortimel (dietary supplement)”, which he had been drinking. The result? A faintness, caused by “a sudden drop in voltage, the so-called vagal phenomenon”. The one who explained it was Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa himself, after he was released at the beginning of the night from the hospital of Santa Cruz (Carnaxide), where he went after collapsing during an event at the Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT ) of the Universidade Nova de Lisbon. A faint that reminded me of another, in 2018, in the city of Braga.
Despite the shock, the president of the republic left the hospital in good spirits a few minutes after 8 p.m., immediately making statements to the media: “It was a sudden drop of tension, I felt everything was kept at bay. I didn’t want to stay [no hospital] because the analysis and the counter-analysis were positive. If there had been any doubt, I would have stayed.” And in a joking tone, he revealed “a sadness” that he gave to the Prime Minister, António Costa, when they spoke on the phone: “I told him “I’m still not dying from this””. According to his own account, he also received a call from one of the “so-called” candidate candidates “to Belém”, to whom he said it was not the time to start the campaign. WHO? Marcelo didn’t say.
This Wednesday’s agenda – which was “full, but with family” – was not cancelled, with the president sending messages to account for the situation.
Despite being released from the hospital, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa revealed that the next 24 hours would be spent with a holter (wearable device that monitors the electrical activity of the heart). He could have done it in the hospital, he said, but “it was a controlled, calm environment,” which also showed he had tests to rule out the possibility of a heart attack.. In addition, he left the hospital with recommendations to prevent further fainting: “Drink more water, do not drink drinks that are very diuretic or high in sugar.” Santa Cruz was also the department where the President of the Republic performed a catheterization in 2019 and a stent (an expandable tube that opens the arteries, allowing blood to circulate).
Despite the shock, Marcelo was in good spirits for the journalists. When asked if he had read the CPI’s preliminary report to TAP, the president jokingly replied, “You don’t want my blood pressure to rise again, do you?”
Finally, a word of thanks to the SNS: “[O desmaio] it was very short compared to Braga. The assistance provided by the firefighters at Trafaria was impeccable. I had already been here [no hospital de Santa Cruz] in 2019, when I placed the stents. It happened on a bad day as it is a doctors strike day and minimum services were on which thankfully was exceptional. It was given a Certificate of Excellence by the National Health Service (SNS)Before finalizing the statements, the president of the republic also revealed that Health Minister Manuel Pizarro had gone to the hospital to “make sure” he was okay.
Other episodes
2018. The first swoon
It is not the first time that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has publicly fainted. On June 23, 2018, the President of the Republic fainted while visiting the Bom Jesus Shrine in Braga. Later, it was the head of state himself who explained that the episode was caused by food poisoning, which caused dehydration. At that point the agenda was cancelled.
2019. Catheterization in Santa Cruz
Four years ago, the President of the Republic was also in the hospital of Santa Cruz to undergo a cardiac catheterization. A statement read that the procedure “confirmed the existence of major coronary obstructions, which were successfully treated in the same procedure without complications”. Recovery was normal and activity resumed normally after a few days.
Source: DN
