Cristiano Ronaldo's mother Dolores Aveiro has been diagnosed with cancer and she has revealed that she is "fighting for her life".
Dolores, a mother of four, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 but she successfully beat the disease. But in a shock revelation, Dolores said on February 7 that her breast cancer has resurfaced.
"I was operated on another breast in Madrid, I've had radiotherapy and now I'm fighting for my life," the 64-year-old told a Portuguese TV station in an interview. This revelation came when Dolores was travelling to Italy in order to celebrate her son's 35th birthday.
She did not reveal any more details about the operation but added, in reference to her recent therapy, "No-one knows about the second one."
While revealing the state of her health, Ronaldo's mother also made an attack on Kathryn Mayorga, the woman who accused Ronaldo of raping her in a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. She said that she had the utmost confidence in her son and also indicated that the woman knew what she was doing when she went with Cristiano to his hotel room.
"I have confidence in my son when it comes to what happened. When she went there, it wasn't to play cards. It was to do something. I know the son I have."
In 2009, the same year of the alleged rape incident, Ronaldo donated £100,000 to build a cancer centre at the hospital that saved his mother's life. Two years earlier, in the summer of 2007, the hospital had removed a lump from the right breast of Dolores.
She later followed a successful course of radiotherapy and was understood to be taking anti-cancer drugs to keep the disease at bay when she suffered her recent breast cancer.
Isabel Aguiar, director of the cancer charity, confirmed the donation at the time and said: "I believe he made the gift because of his mother Dolores."
He made the generous gift to the Portuguese League Against Cancer in his native Madeira so it could be used to build a centre in the Hospital Central in the island's capital of Funchal.
"It is the first donation he has given us. We were expecting it because he told us at the end of last year that he would do it," Aguiar added continuing, "We are going to build a small centre in the garden of the Hospital Central, to give support to cancer patients."
A friend of Ronaldo was quoted as saying, "Cristiano will be eternally grateful to the doctors and nurses who saved his mum´s life. He knows how devastating cancer can be for both the patient and their families, and wanted to do something to ease some of that suffering."
Cristiano has not spoken about this incident in public yet but according to his girlfriend, the Juventus footballer is with his mother in her "moments of sadness".
