How Ronaldo rescued elder brother from drink and drug issues
Cristiano Ronaldo helped his older brother Hugo Aveiro battle addiction, having witnessed his father die from liver failure after his own problems.
Ronaldo’s achievements on the pitch have led to him being named as the best player in the world on five occasions, but they also helped him when it came to saving his brother.
Aveiro, who is 10 years older than the Juventus forward, has suffered through addiction, of both drugs and alcohol, and had to go through rehab.
That rehab was only possible because Ronaldo was earning money at a young age as a footballer, and paid for his brother’s rehab.
Mum Dolores has previously explained how her younger son helped his older brother. “I paid to send Hugo away to a specialist clinic for treatment. I was working as a cleaner, earning only £400 a month and I had to take out a loan.
“Cristiano was 16 then. He was earning more and paid for his brother’s treatment,” Dolores said.
“There’s no doubt his money helped to save Hugo.
“Things might have turned out a lot differently if Cristiano hadn’t been a footballer.”
“Dinis drank himself into an early grave which left Cristiano devastated,” Dolores explained of the impact that drinking had on her younger son.
“Time and again, Cristiano offered to pay to get him treatment but Dinis kept on drinking.
“He was still so young, just 52, when he died. Cristiano was very close to his dad.
“He would have loved him to still be around to see the player he is today. It’s very sad.”
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According to the Sun, the former Real Madrid player, whose record as their highest ever scorer is likely to stay around for a long time, vowed not to drink after seeing what it had done to his family.
And the 36-year-old previously revealed his father’s death spurred him on, saying, “Obviously the death of my father influenced everything.
“I knew the pain would pass and the most important thing was for me to continue with my work.”