Photo: William Burkhardt (bjjpix.com)
This afternoon, the black belt Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes went to the operating table.
The brother and professor Bruno “Tanque” Mendes explains the surgery, which isn’t that simple: “At 3pm (Brazil’s time) he entered the operating room for a cervical surgery. He had a hernia and didn’t know about it, and last week, during a practice, this hernia burst. It is pushing two vertebrae, which in turn are pushing the medulla. So they will take a bone graft from the hip to put in the vertebrae with a prosthesis and screws to reinforce the place.”
The recovery of WPJJ champion, where he defeated Rafael Mendes, can last from 5 to 8 months, but the fighter will return brand new, explains his brother: “He will be able to do everything e did before, but now the focus is on the recovery”.
On Facebook and Twitter, a campaign to support Tanquinho is already going on, #campanhavoltalogotanquinho, something as #GetbacksoonTanquinho.
Just before entering the operating room, Tanquinho thanked: “I wanna say thank you to everybody who is sending scraps, messages and good energy for my surgery! I’ll answer and thank you all later! I was very happy for the affection from all of you around the world! With God, I will take all the good vibes that you sent me for my surgery! Thank you, my family, girlfriend, friends and fans. You give me great motivation to get over it!”.
GRACIEMAG.com joins the crowd for an early Tanquinho’s recovery.
