Following his Youtube announcement earlier this month that it was time to dedicate his body to science – meaning, he needed to take a step back from performing and look after his fragile health- Eurovision ‘hero’ Salvador Sobral is reported to be in intensive care, “desperate for a heart transplant”.
The most positive side to developments is that the 27-year-old who won Portugal its first Eurovision victory less than five months ago is in the country’s top heart hospital: Santa Cruz, in Carnaxide.
According to reports, he left the hospital a few days ago but had to be readmitted after his condition suddenly worsened.
For now, the prognosis is described as “delicate” though Sobral’s condition is thought to be stable.
A source ‘close to the family’ told tabloid Correio da Manhã: “Everything is going as planned. All his bodily functions are controlled. The idea of this (latest) internment is not to force the body, which was what was previously happening.
“Being in a hospital bed is different from going from one place to another”.
CM suggests visitors are being limited to three a day, and then only one at a time.
But the charismatic young singer is said to be “completely calm” and “has not lost the belief that a compatible donor will be found”.
Say reports, “a compatible donor” will have to have the same blood type, weight and height” as Sobral, as well as a form of “genetic compatibility” to minimise the possibilities that the transplant could end up being rejected.
The most likely donor will be a road traffic accident victim who has been declared brain dead but has a healthy heart, says CM, as it is not “common that someone under the age of 50 could (otherwise) be a donor”.
Successful transplants can see patients return to lead a “normal life”, with survival rates five years in the region of 75%.
Hospital Santa Cruz is famed for performing Portugal’s first coronary angioplasty (1984), first heart transplant (1986) and first kidney transplant (1985).
