In a shocking personal health issue that rattled the Valorant community, the famous gamer Erick ‘aspas’ Santos divulged about his heart tumor, which wasn’t cancerous but an emergency surgery had been conducted on him. The operation was highly successful, but the next squeak of that singer LOUD will have again by next year’s end to utterly erase the tumor. He pacified the audience and mentioned that the case was now “secure and under control”.
Truly, you understood it correctly; there was a growth in his heart. A non-cancerous tumor or any medical condition that would have made the least qualified person panic would still be a difficult issue for the “super-cool clutch” gamer. The public announcement of pro-gamer’s case was through a tweet from the official Valorant news account and at first, gamers’ responses were the same: a hearty sigh of relief followed by a wave of support, but what was also present was the augmentation of the depreciation of his legendary status. One may question: the guy was operating on a literal heart tumor, and the community’s first thought was… he’s still a GOAT? Only in the world of esports, folks.
How exactly did the whole thing happen? A source revealed that the doctor soi-disant discovered the non-cancerous tumor that immediately demanded surgical removal. The fact that it was for immediate attendance and was done that quickly is a big credit to the medical team involved. Zeel, a user on the social media platform wrote: “Heroes behind the scenes, huge shoutout to the medical team that caught it and acted fast. Really, hats off to them. Early detection with things like this is critical.”
The outpouring in the replies was immediate and sincere. Supportive words such as “Prayers for the goat,” “Get well soon @aspaszin,” and “Thank God the goat is OK” were pouring in non-stop. The general feeling of the community was simply relief that the surgery was successful and the tumor had been benign. Aquamarin3_eris expressed the anxiety that many others felt: “That’s so scary; I’m really glad the initial surgery went well, and I’m wishing him and all his loved ones the best!”
But naturally, because we are speaking about aspas—the player known for his insane flicks and unflappable composure—the quips and GOAT proclamations started to be heard almost as quickly as he was revealing his situation to the public. At this stage, it turned into a full-blown joke. A user tweeted, “Even heart tumors can’t nerf our 🐐.” On the next post was another proclamation that “not even a tumor can kill aspas, truly the goat.” The most common way to comment was about his in-game skills: “bro is on a whole different level of goat, killed even the tumor 🔥🔫” and “Even clutching the tumor, what a Goat.” Nostalgic someone even shared a meme picture with a caption, “What Aspas saw when he woke up from surgery,” which was probably just another amazing highlight play in his mind. The way the community reacted to a scary news event was to elevate their hero, and it’s kind of nice in its own chaotic way.
There were also some questions and worries in the replies that are totally reasonable when the term “heart tumor” is mentioned. One person speculated that it might be due to a sedentary lifestyle which initiated a short educational thread. Another user, Daniel, contributed further information: “It’s genetic, the most common in kids and teenagers, actually, it is super rare in adults. I don’t know the name of the tumor in English, but in Portuguese, it is called hemangioma.” So, for anyone worried, it seems this was not caused by his profession or anything like that. Just one of those random creepy health issues that can happen to anyone.
A couple of replies were skeptical and went as far as to challenge the authenticity of the news, and one user even posted in Portuguese, “essa informação é real?” (Is this information real?). Another account Grok, acknowledged it was so, both by directing to what aspas himself wrote on X. So yes, it is really confirmed and not some wild rumor. He is facing a serious matter.
What is in store for aspas? Well, he still has that second surgery waiting for him before the end of 2025 to get the rest of the tumor removed. This means his recovery and health management will become a priority and could possibly clash with his LOUD team’s rigorous practice and tournament schedule. But considering how tough professional gamers are—and how much support he has—you can’t help but think he will get through this. The guy has nerves of steel for a reason, apparently.
It is in such circumstances that the “professional player” side of these persons becomes a tad more relatable. We watch them for their unbelievable skills, but they also use platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
