Brazil's Lula shaves iconic beard in cancer battle

[ocpagu]

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has had his hair and trademark beard shaved off as he battles throat cancer.

Lula was shaved by his wife Marisa Leticia ahead of his next round of chemotherapy, which can make a patient's hair fall out.

Pictures released by the former leader's press office show him bald and beardless - but still with a moustache. His doctors have said his chances of recovery from cancer are "very good".

He has already completed a first chemotherapy session without complications and is due to have three more by the end of the year before beginning radiation therapy.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15766843

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I confess that I cried seeing the pictures. Never thought I'd see Lula without his traditional beard.





Lula as a Union leader and activist in the 1980s





"Lula's girls", as they're called in Brazil, Dilma Rousseff and his wife, Marisa Letícia, early in 2011

[Judi Lynn]

1. It's easy to feel your sentiments during this important time in his recovery efforts.

The Brazilian people should be commended for their choice of this man as the President they wanted to guide the country through such an important transition. He never let them down. He will be regarded without a doubt as one of the finest leaders we will ever know during our lifetimes.

It is good to hear his chances are viewed as very good to overcome this startling crisis in his life. People around the world will be hoping for his return to health every day. He is important in the lives of people everywhere who respect him, and hope to see the dawning of a far, far better world right here, at long last, with people like him who have led the way there.