Bulgaria's Petrov Leaves Hospital, Leukemia Battle Goes on

Aston Villa`s captain Stiliyan Petrov and his family took their seats in the directors' box prior to their English Premier League soccer match against Chelsea at the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, Britain 31 March 2012. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Aston Villa captain, Bulgarian Stilyan Petrov, who was shockingly diagnosed with acute leukemia in March, has been released from a London hospital, but his battle against the horrible disease is far from over.

"Only the professor in charge of Stiliyan's treatment knows how exactly the treatment will continue. The only thing I can tell you is that the treatment will definitely continue," Petrov's father told Bulgarian reporters.

Numerous football players, officials and fans across Bulgaria and Europe have shown their support for the 32-year-old Bulgarian international, who was diagnosed with acute leukemia at the end of March.

The Bulgarian national team doctor said he believed the illness was induced by exposure to the radiation of Chernobyl and a failure at the time by the country's Communist leadership to inform citizens of the danger.

When Chernobyl's Reactor No. 4 exploded, Stiliyan was a boy of 6 in Bulgaria, more than 600 miles to the south.

Petrov has been playing for Villa since 2006, after seven seasons in Celtic; before that he played for CSKA Sofia and PFC Montana. He has 105 appearances and 8 goals for the Bulgarian national football team.

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