Puma reveals the medical problems that almost cost him his life
José Luis Rodríguez, who is touring Spain, explains how he was able to recover his voice.
BarcelonaThe singer José Luis Rodríguez, better known as El Puma, is in the middle of theMeeting Tour. Taking advantage of the concerts he has in Spain, the Venezuelan artist has been on the set of The Anthill to talk about his professional career. The singer, who has been a musical reference for ballads in recent decades and is 81 years old, didn't mince his words when it came to explaining the medical problems he's had, which left him between life and death and forced him to stay off the stage.
Since the 2000s, the singer knew he suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that progressively progresses and affects the tissue of this organ. Even so, to avoid surgery and not interrupt his musical career, he continued giving concerts until 2017, when it was impossible for him to perform in Barranquilla, Colombia. "They told me: 'If you stay like this, you'll die. But if you try, you'll probably live,'" he explained, so he agreed to a double lung transplant. "Then the tests began, the waiting... Anxious, with the phone in bed, since they can call you at any time."
"The wait is the most tedious and terrible part. You're still drowning, and you have 20 meters of oxygen cables to get around the house," he recalled about the time it took to receive the call from the hospital. They finally found the right donor, and he was able to have surgery, a moment he remembers with tranquility and serenity due to his trust in the medical professionals. But despite overcoming the procedure and having a positive recovery that allowed him to sing again, El Puma suffered another health blow.
The morale of El Puma's medical problems
During the interview with Pablo Motos, the artist also explained that he had suffered a heart attack. "I went to the doctor, the optician, because I noticed it in my eye. They ran all the tests, my cholesterol was very high, above all. Also the triglycerides. I eat a lot of cheese and I spent 15 days eating only that, and then I got it," he said about the heart attack.
Of all these medical problems, the singer of Peacock He drew a positive conclusion: "I have to know that whenever I do something, I should do it as if it were my last time. If God gives me more time, I'll welcome it," he said on set. In the same interview, he added that he intends to reach 90 years of age on stage, taking care of his only surviving sister of the ten he had.
