LECH WALESA, Poland’s 80-year-old former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been hospitalised with a bad case of COVID-19, an aide said last week.
A post on Walesa’s Facebook shows him on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on, with a caption that says,“I have been hit by Covid.” The aide, Marek Kaczmar, told Polish media that Walesa is seriously ill, but under good care in a hospital in Gdansk, the Baltic port city where he lives.
Lech Walesa turned 80 this year. Starting in 1980, Walesa spearheaded Poland’s pro-democracy Solidarity movement and with the support of Pope John Paul II, he led the struggle that led to the fall of communism in Poland 9 years later and which inspired other countries to shed Moscow’s domination. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1990-95 he served as democratic Poland’s first popularly elected president.
The former anti-communist dissident has faced multiple health scares in past years. He has diabetes and a heart condition that requires him to use a pacemaker. This is his second time having COVID-19.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
