Cristiano Ronaldo dotes on mum Dolores, who has suffered a stroke, and gave her a £100k Porsche and £2m home
CRISTIANO RONALDO will be praying his dear mum pulls through, after she suffered a stroke.
Maria Dolores Aveiro, 65, is said to be "stable and conscious" at the Dr Nelio Mendonca Hospital after falling ill in her native island of Madeira.
Best known as Dolores, CR7's biggest fan dotes on her youngest son, and in return Ronaldo is the epitome of a "mummy’s boy".
Ronaldo, 35, flies his mum around the world on private jets and lavishes her with gifts, including a £100,000 Porsche.
It's no surprise, then, that Dolores' 2.1 million Instagram followers are routinely treated to photos of her holidaying in glamorous locations such as Paris, Marrakech and Capri.
But life wasn’t always so glamorous for Dolores.
Her husband and Ronaldo’s father, Jose Dinis Aveiro, was an alcoholic, and the family grew up in an impoverished home, with all four children sharing a bedroom.
Dolores has even admitted she wanted to abort Ronaldo when she fell pregnant.
But, she didn't - and throughout his life the pair have grown immensely tight.
Last year, Dolores revealed she was "fighting for her life" after her breast cancer returned.
And she has backed him to the hilt throughout his career.
WANTED AN ABORTION
Living in a tiny house in Funchal, Portugal, Dolores already had three children – Katia, now 43, Elma, 41, and Hugo, 44 - when she fell pregnant with Ronaldo.
But with the family struggling to make ends meet, Dolores initially wanted to terminate the pregnancy.
In her autobiography, Mother Courage, she reveals how she "drank ale" and ran "until she dropped" in an attempt to end her pregnancy after her doctor refused to help her.
Dolores now thanks God that she hasn’t been "punished" and Ronaldo has joked about it, with her saying: "He told me when he found out, 'Look, mum, you wanted to abort and now I'm the one who's pulling the purse-strings in the house’”.
Ronaldo says although he is now "rich"; he wants his own children to grow up with the values his mum instilled in him.
He said: “I was brought up with nothing, we were very poor. I had no toys and no Christmas presents.
“But I didn’t mind. For us it was normal, it was all we knew.
"Everyone around us lived the same way and we were happy.”
CANCER BLOW
In 2019, Dolores was left distraught when she discovered the breast cancer she had beaten after she was first diagnosed in 2007 had returned.
She told a Portuguese TV station in a interview: “I was operated on another breast in Madrid, I’ve had radiotherapy and now I’m fighting for my life.”
Dolores didn't offer any more details, but added: "No one knows about the second one."
In 2009, thankful Ronaldo donated £100,000 to build a cancer centre at the hospital that saved his mum’s life the first time she beat cancer.
A friend of the footballer was quoted as saying: "Cristiano will be eternally grateful to the doctors and nurses who saved his mum´s life.
"He wanted to show them how much he appreciated what they did for him.
"He knows how devastating cancer can be for both the patient and their families, and wanted to do something to ease some of that suffering."
MONEY FROM THE SAME POT
While his school mates are said to have nicknamed him "cry-baby" for his temper, Dolores countered their cruelty by giving him her own nickname, "little bee", because he was so fast he couldn’t be caught.
She was fiercely proud of his sporting prowess, and continued to defend and big-up her son as he grew into an adult.
“[Ronaldo] doesn’t have any vices,” she once said, speaking to the Sunday Mirror. “His only vice is football.”
In the same 2007 interview, Dolores admitted that she looked after her son’s wages until he was 18, and the money he was making after that was going into a joint account in both their names.
THE HIGH LIFE
In 2009, when Ronaldo was bought for £80m by Real Madrid, he took Dolores with him, buying her a £2m house in the city.
However, Ronaldo told the Player’s Tribune that it wasn’t easy for his mum to watch her play, as she’d get so nervous during big games that she would pass out.
“The doctors started prescribing her sedatives just for my matches,” he admitted.
He's looked after her ever since, and now flies her around the world in his private jet.
He's also spent £4,800 a month to fly his mum and her friends out to Cape Verde so they can play boules on the beach.
When she turned 60 in 2015 he bought her a classic-looking white Porsche worth almost £100,000, and in recent years she posted a picture next to a white Ferrari, worth around £250,000.
The family have also been known stay in resorts that cost up to £10,000-a-night, and Ronaldo often flies Dolores to his football games by private jet.
VETS HIS GIRLFRIENDS
Dolores has established a reputation for taking control of her son's life, and it's often been her words that have been behind many of his biggest relationship decisions.
A source told Sun Online that Dolores is “always on the scene and giving her verdict on everything from his career to parenting tactics and choice of girlfriends.”
Womanising Ronaldo has his girlfriends vetted by Dolores and she was allegedly responsible for his break-up with Portuguese TV presenter Merche Romero in 2006.
Apparently, Dolores didn't like the age gap between her son and the 37-year-old.
Likewise, when Ronaldo broke up with Spanish model Nereida Gallardo over text in 2008, it was allegedly due to "problems with the family".
“They were a little jealous,” she told the Sunday Mirror. “He’s very manipulated by his mother and she was always very protective towards him, which is normal.
“But she never called me to try to sort things out.”
And while Ronaldo and Russian model Irina Shayk looked to be going the distance during their five-year relationship, Dolores reportedly caused a rift between the pair.
After spending Christmas in Dubai as a couple in 2014, Irina reportedly refused to leave to attend Dolores’s surprise 60th birthday party.
“Irina mouthed off about Dolores and Ronaldo took sides with his mum. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” a source said at the time.
But, she seems to be happy with Ronaldo's current missus, Georgina Rodriguez, often pictured together with the former £250-per-week shop assistant.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
Dolores instilled strong Catholic values in her son and Ronaldo is so religious, he always carries a crucifix during games.
The circumstances surrounding Ronald’s eldest son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, eight, have always been shrouded in mystery, but it was reported that after conceiving a child on a one night stand, Dolores was the one who demanded Ronaldo take responsibility.
His mum collected Cristiano Jr from a private hospital in Florida when he was born in 2010, while Ronaldo played in the World Cup in South Africa.
And in a documentary, she says he asked her to help raise and educate his son.
In 2018, she stepped up again when twins Eva and Mateo, were born by surrogate.
And before Ronaldo moved to Turin, it was reported that she lived in the same gated complex as her son so she could care for his kids while he was away playing football.
She used to be a frequent presence at the star's previous home he shared with Cristiano Jnr, the twins, Rodriguez and their daughter Alana, 10 months, in Madrid.
A CHEF BY TRADE
Once a struggling cook, Dolores opened a restaurant – Casa Aveiro – in Gramado, Brazil, and comes up with the recipes herself.
The eatery - which has a mural of her family - serves Portuguese meals such as octopus, squid ink pasta, and Ronaldo’s favourite food Bacalhau à Brás - a traditional dish made from shreds of salted cod, onions, and fried potatoes.
Concerned about his mum's celebrity status, Ronaldo has offered to hire her a bodyguard for protection but she refuses.
“I feel happy and don’t feel the need to have a bodyguard with me. I live very peacefully,” she said.
However, there have been times when she may have wished her life could be more peaceful.
In 2015, she was stopped at Madrid Airport by customs guards after carrying £32,700 worth of cash in her hand luggage, which she was forced to hand over.
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Clearly, Ronaldo isn't the only big personality in the family, and he will be willing his mother to pull through after her latest health scare.
Given the five-time Ballon d'Or winners' generosity, she will be given the best medical care money can buy.
After all, as he has proven in the past, Ronaldo will do anything for his mum.