Maradona leaves hospital after 12-day stay
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-30 09:16

Diego Maradona checked out of a hospital Thursday after 12 days in intensive care for heart and lung problems.

Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona (C, with yellow t-shirt) walks among friends at a country house in General Rodriguez, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, April 29, 2004. [Reuters]

Maradona, 43, left to seek "more personalized treatment" from his own doctor, his medical team said in a statement.

Outside the hospital, dozens of fans chanted "Ole! Ole! Ole!" and unfurled a large white banner with Maradona's picture and the message "God exists."

As news spread that the former soccer star left the hospital, other well-wishers honked their horns as they drove by.

It wasn't immediately clear where Maradona — who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup championship — was headed. Four years ago, he moved to Cuba, where he has been undergoing drug rehabilitation for cocaine addiction.

He returned to Argentina on personal business more than a month ago.

Maradona's exit from the hospital Thursday came after a string of upbeat medical reports — but just one day after his medical team said he would stay in intensive care at least a few extra days "to help speed up his recovery."

Argentine former soccer star Diego Maradona gestures during the match between Boca Juniors and Nueva Chicago in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in this April 18, 2004 file photo. [AP]

He was rushed to a hospital April 18 complaining of chest pains and fever. It was his second emergency hospitalization in recent years.

On Tuesday, Maradona was on his feet for the first time, walking around his hospital room. He watched on television as Argentina's national soccer team beat Morocco 1-0 in an exhibition game Wednesday night.

Maradona's family has said drug problems had nothing to do with his current hospitalization.

In January 2000, he was hospitalized in Uruguay and diagnosed with a severe heart condition. He later went to Cuba for drug rehabilitation.

In his 20-year career before retiring in 1997, Maradona also led Argentina to the 1990 World Cup final and won Italian and Argentine league titles. In 2000, FIFA chose him and Pele as the best players in soccer history.

For days, fans and admirers have stood vigil outside the private clinic in downtown Buenos Aires, joining local reporters awaiting daily updates on Maradona's progress. Hundreds of fans taped get-well messages to the hospital's walls.

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