Estima in the weight group final in Lisbon, in photo by Ivan Trindade
Bráulio Estima (Gracie Barra) was the only one who managed to stop absolute champion Sérgio Moraes (Alliance) at the Euro Open last weekend. But his effort in the medium heavyweight division in Lisbon wasn’t Carcará’s only sacrifice early this season. Quite the contrary.
“It was a busy weekend,” reported Bráulio direct from the hospital in England. “I went to a friend’s funeral on Saturday in Birmingham. Then I rushed to London and caught the first flight to Lisbon, competed on Sunday, returned Monday and now I’m here recovering. I’ll be in the hospital till Friday, and then it’s on to physiotherapy.”
The neck operation was a success. “I’m feeling very well, better than I expected. Is doesn’t even feel like I was just operated on. The operation was done with cutting-edge technology, it was rad. I had two disks, C4 and C5, switched out, but I’ll still have total flexibility in the region. It took six hours, since the medical did an excellent overall job. Now I’ve got a bionic neck! And it doesn’t even seem like I was at the European Open just two days ago!” said the champion jubilantly.