Nelson Mandela remains in critical but stable condition

Nelson Mandela is responding to medical treatment, though he remains in critical but stable condition after spending more than a month in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.

“We are encouraged that Madiba is responding to treatment and urge the public to continue providing support and showering him with love which gives him and the family strength,” said President Jacob Zuma, who visited the anti-apartheid revolutionary on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.

Mandela has been in the hospital since June 8 with a recurring lung infection.

Ahmed Kathrada, one of Mandela’s fellow anti-apartheid activists, visited him in the hospital on July 1, though he was only allowed to stay for a few minutes, reports USA Today.

Kathrada, a politician and former prison-mate of Mandela, said it was traumatic to see the once-robust man in such a delicate condition. Mandela’s eyes “changed,” he said, when he recognized his friend “through his eyes.”

“All the years that we knew him, we knew him, somebody who was very conscious of his health, somebody who exercised in and outside of jail, regularly, and here you see a person who's different. A shell of himself,” said Kathrada, who is 83 years old to Mandela’s 94. The pair met in 1946, before apartheid, which they would later fight against together, was implemented.

“It was an overwhelming feeling of sadness, and of course the unrealistic wish and prayer that he can be with us for longer and longer,” he continued.

Mandela’s 95th birthday, this year called Mandela Day, will be June 18. His foundation’s Twitter account has tweeted asking the world to join in the volunteer-day initiative, which asks people to use 67 minutes of their time to “take action to help change the world for the better,” in honor of the number of years Mandela has served others.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate spent 27 years in jail for his anti-apartheid activism.

Image: WikiCommons