Nelson Mandela ‘unresponsive for days’: report

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 722 Views

NELSON Mandela is unresponsive and his immediate family is now discussing whether to withdraw treatment, it has been claimed.

According to a new source, Mr Mandela’s liver and kidney functions are down to 50 per cent and he has not opened his eyes for days, the Daily Mail reports.

The 94-year-old beloved former president has been in hospital for two weeks battling a recurring lung infection, but previous statements have indicated that Mr Mandela’s health is improving.

As early as Thursday, a grandson of Nelson Mandela said he hoped his grandfather would be headed home soon.

Ndaba Mandela addressed concerns about his grandfather’s health at a media briefing about a football invitational that will be part of celebrations surrounding Mandela’s 95th birthday on July 18.

”Positively we can say that he has been getting better and better each day and hopefully he’ll be coming home soon,” Ndaba Mandela was quoted as saying by The Star, a South African newspaper.

”For us, as family, as long as he can still hear and understand what is said to him, and talk to us, we’ll continue to celebrate him,” he said.

Mandela was taken to a Pretoria hospital on June 8 to be treated for a recurring lung infection. It marked the fourth time he has been hospitalised since December.

According to CBS News, Mr Mandela went into cardiac arrest the night he was taken to Pretoria Hospital and had to be resuscitated.

As Mr Mandela was driven to the hospital the ambulance suffered an engine failure and was forced to wait for over 40 minutes for a replacement.

When the second ambulance arrived Mr Mandela had to be transferred – in winter temperatures- to a second vehicle which could have had an impact on his condition, according to a cardiologist interviewed by CBS.

Former President Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded Mandela as president in 1999, said he remained in close contact with doctors about Mandela’s condition.

”Nelson Mandela is in fact improving, in terms of his health,” Mbeki said in a radio interview.

”I think we really need to feel comforted that we still have him with us now.”

The 94-year-old Mandela, who became South Africa’s first black president, is today spending his 14th day in hospital where he has been listed in serious condition.

Mbeki said on local PowerFM radio that he is in contact with the family and medical staff of the man he succeeded in 1999.

“Naturally … I maintain very close contact with the family and the doctors about Nelson Mandela’s condition,” he told the radio late Thursday.

“And I think that we need to understand what has been said publicly by government, which is that Nelson Mandela is in fact improving in terms of his health.

“I don’t think that anybody should kind of entertain some wrong notion, that Nelson Mandela is going to die tomorrow, he is not going to.”

Mandela’s latest hospitalisation, the fourth in seven months, has been met with a sense of resignation among many South Africans, who have come to terms with their icon’s mortality.

On Thursday the Pretoria hospital treating Mandela received 20,000 litres in emergency water deliveries after a planned maintenance water cut lasted longer than expected, radio 702 reported.

The maintenance started on Tuesday and was due to end on Wednesday, but was prolonged because a problem arose as technicians tried to switch back supplies.

The water supplies were restored early on Friday, the municipality of Pretoria said.

Mandela, who was rushed to a Pretoria hospital on June 8 with a recurrent lung infection, is due to celebrate his 95th birthday on July 18.

source: http://www.news.com.au

Tags:

Share it.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts