Doctor who treated Lula during his campaign caravan receives attacks on Facebook.

Forum Magazine - “It’s like stepping on cockroaches.” That’s how doctor Luis Henrique Correia Lima de Oliveira reacted to the attacks and threats he has been receiving via Facebook after posting a text on his page revealing his experience of treating former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his campaign tour in Ceará. “I decided to write and publish an emotional text about it and I started receiving countless insults, both publicly and privately. The worst part is that 90% of them are people who identify themselves as doctors,” reveals the doctor, who lives and works in Sobral, in the Sertão region of Ceará.

Luis Henrique does not intend, at least for now, to take any legal action regarding the threats. “The attacks did not come from any professional association. They are fascist individuals who operate in a low-level environment, one I am not accustomed to. They are cowards who are incapable of maintaining a level-based dialogue and only use shallow arguments. Therefore, initially, I do not intend to do anything, unless some post occurs that damages my personal or professional image. Otherwise, I see no point in arguing with this type of people.”

It all started with the publication of the text. “Truly, the experience of accompanying Lula on the caravan was extremely impactful for me. This motivated me to write a message, which ended up going viral and being shared, among others, by former president Dilma Rousseff, Gleisi Hoffmann, and others.”

Conversely, the doctor began to suffer attacks online, mostly from "colleagues" in the profession. "These are doctors who want the return of privileges they had in the past and are against strengthening the universal healthcare system. Furthermore, when Lula was president, he inaugurated many universities, which made the market more competitive, and this didn't please these people. Another aspect that explains this is the Mais Médicos program. The Cubans agreed to work in the most remote areas of the Northeast, which doesn't happen with everyone, who find it humiliating. I believe that doctors have an important social role as agents of change, always seeking to contribute to a more just and egalitarian society. Those who offend me don't think that way," he analyzes.

Invitation
Luis Henrique never tires of recalling the experience of being alongside Lula on the campaign caravan. “When I received the invitation, I didn't imagine I would be so close to him. My role was to examine him once a day and attend to him if needed. But it was much more intense than I expected. And the reaction of the people is something unforgettable. I had no idea of ​​the extent of people's passion for Lula. TV doesn't show it, only some Facebook pages. But live it's different. I saw people fainting after touching him. It's an incredible exchange of energy between the people and Lula,” he recalls.

The doctor recalls an episode that perfectly exemplifies what he's saying: “We had passed through three cities in Ceará, and he gave a speech in each one. When we were leaving Quixadá, I asked him to rest and save his voice because he had another speech later on, in Juazeiro do Norte. His response was: 'I can't. I need to talk to them. These are the people who motivate me. These are the people who keep me strong here, despite being 71 years old.' That's how he sees the people. The way people look at him is the same way a son looks at his father. That's why Lula represents the hope and the dream of a better nation, because it's been very badly mistreated,” concludes Luis Henrique.

Here is the full text by physician Luis Henrique Correia Lima de Oliveira:
Yes, it was love at first consultation.

By Luis Henrique Correia Lima de Oliveira*

I accompanied President Lula as the doctor for his entourage throughout his trip to the state of Ceará. After the request the previous night, I went to the president's room at 8:00 AM accompanied by the MST doctor.

I entered the room and my heart was racing, my hands were trembling and my legs were weak. I looked at him, he smiled, the room was illuminated by his presence; yes, he was very happy with the outcome of the caravan up to that point, despite the constant faltering in his voice, he was happy, it was visible, it was transparent and true what he felt.

We all sat at a table in the middle of the room, with four chairs meticulously arranged around it. Without thinking much about what to say, I said, “Mr. President, I am in shock, because I am standing before the most important historical figure in the country.” He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Nonsense! I’m just a man from the backlands who went to São Paulo in a truck in search of a dream!”

After those brief words that touched my heart, the doctor who was attending me asked how he had slept, if his throat was better… After other brief questions about his health, I began a physical exam: I listened to his heart, listened to his lungs, checked his blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, and blood oxygen levels. Everything was incredibly within normal limits, despite his 71 years. We finished the clinical evaluation and he started chatting with me, asking where I was from, if I worked in the public or private system, how many daughters I had…

And many other questions of a very personal nature, and with each question he asked, I wondered why a man of his stature was asking me so many questions – this was a question he answered minutes later without me even asking (he said that before starting a conversation, he needed to know the person's life story because, in a conversation, he liked to see the other person through their eyes!).

After completely disarming me and connecting with the most intimate aspects of my life, he began to talk about politics and his worldview, stating that profound changes were needed in our society to end the "big house syndrome," and that it would take time for people to culturally shift and begin to see the world from a new perspective, where everyone served the common good, without individualism and pettiness.

And after talking for almost an hour, he looks at us and says, "Well folks, I think I've taken up enough of your time." We stand up, I look at his hand as he adjusts his beard, and unable to contain my impulse to speak, I take his hand, say it's an honor to be there at that moment, and kiss his hand. He promptly pulls my head towards him and kisses me on the cheek.

But before we said goodbye and hit the road, I said, “Mr. President, can I take a picture with you? Could it be in that picture frame with the cacti?” And he said, “My friend, I see you don’t know much about plants! That’s a palm tree. Let’s take the picture.” And we took this beautiful picture… Yes, it was love at first sight, it was love and you could see it in my eyes! Lula is a beautiful human being, caring, attentive, and above all, empathetic! He looks at us as if he were looking into our souls; he is sincere and truthful in his words, which is why he moves crowds so much. He doesn’t put on an act; he’s just a man from the backlands who went from the Pernambuco hinterland to São Paulo in search of a dream… He’s just a son of Brazil and very likely our last hope for better days!

Luis Henrique Correia Lima de Oliveira is a doctor.