ASUNCION (Reuters) – Former Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is in a medically-induced coma after suffering a stroke, a senator from his party said Wednesday.
Doctor and legislator Jorge Querey said that Lugo, who is also currently a senator, was hospitalized after an ischemic stroke and that initial studies indicated Lugo suffered a “relatively small” injury.
The injury “can grow larger or can shrink, we don’t know how it will play out,” Querey told journalists outside of the hospital.
The 71-year-old Lugo, who was president from 2008 to 2012, is a former Catholic bishop who left the priesthood to become a politician. He is now a prominent leader of the leftist Frente Guasu coalition.
During his administration, Lugo was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which he recovered from after receiving treatment in Brazil.
Querey said doctors will perform an MRI exam on Lugo to see the extent of the stroke’s damage.
(Reporting by Daniela Desantis; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
