Under the care of his devoted wife Rina Siahaya Pical, legendary Indonesian boxer Ellyas Pical is now using his fighting spirit to recover from a heart attack.

“He is now undertaking walking exercises under a doctor’s monitoring. It is expected that he will soon become more stable and will be allowed to go home,” Rina told The Jakarta Post recently.

Ellyas, the first world boxing champion from Indonesia, is currently undergoing intensive treatment at the Harapan Kita hospital in Jakarta after suffering the heart attack. He reportedly had received heart valve surgery at the hospital.

Rina, who with several of her extended family members have been nursing Ellyas at the hospital, said her husband knew a little about his health condition.

She decided to limit the passing of information to her husband as she wanted Ellyas to have a speedy recovery.

“We’ve shared only a few words [with him]. The focus is to get him to recover. In the meantime, it is probably better for him not to know what is actually happening,” said Rina, who is a dentist.

Rina shared that Ellyas was lucky to be admitted to the hospital in time, as it meant he could survive through the critical moment.

During the heart attack, which took place in the middle of February, Ellyas was first taken to his neighborhood hospital in Serpong, South Tangerang, for emergency treatment. Later, he was sent to Harapan Kita, a hospital that specializes in cardiology.

Regarding the medical bills, Rina said she relied on the state-sponsored health insurance BPJS to cover her husband’s treatment. She also acknowledged that there were some helpful donators who have been willing to share the burden of covering some of the expenses during the treatment.

When asked whether the government had also offered its help, Rina acknowledged that, aside from the BPJS health insurance, she had also received donations from some public officials, but as individuals and not as representatives of any institutions.

“I have been receiving support from individual donors, including public officials,” she said.

Beforehand, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi stated that Ellyas Pical’s medical treatment had been settled by the government through the BPJS schemes. Imam, who visited Ellyas Pical at the hospital last week, shared the same optimism that the former boxer would regain his stable condition in no time.

“I have talked with the doctors and they said that on a scale of 1 to 10 Ellyas Pical has now reached 7. This is relieving news for us all,” he said as quoted by Antara, advising Ellyas to ease his high-impact sports activities.

Long before the era of former world champion Chris “Dragon” John and rising star Daud “Cino” Yordan, Indonesia had Ellyas, the true legend who paved the way for the country’s boxers.

Ellyas, who had “The Exocet” as his nickname referring to his left-handed punch, was Indonesia’s first world boxing champion in the super flyweight class. He won the International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) super flyweight title three times from 1985 to 1987.

The nickname came from the French-made missiles used against the British Royal Navy by the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War, which happened in 1982 during Ellyas’ era. He got his title with this left-hand punch, knocking out defending champion Chun Ju-do of South Korea in 1985.

Born in Saparua in Ambon, he was only the second man from Indonesia to fight for a world title, following Thomas Americo, who was defeated by Saoul Mamby of the United States for the WBC super lightweight title in Jakarta in 1981.

Ellyas lost his fame and went under the public radar until 2005 when he was caught involved in a drug transaction. At that time, he worked as a security officer at a nightclub in Central Jakarta.

He was sentenced to seven months in prison and released in February 2006.

Ellyas is now working for the National Sports Council (KONI) and the sports ministry offices.

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