Nelson Mandela Remains Hospitalized, Battling Lung Infection

Nelson Mandela, the former South African president known for his work fighting apartheid, has been hospitalized due to a severe lung infection. According to South African officials, he is in “serious but stable” condition.

According to reports, Mandela, 94, is spending his third day in the Pretoria, South Africa hospital, with his health “unchanged.” Although his condition has not improved and is worrisome, Mac Maharaj, a longtime friend of Mandela, is optimistic that the anti-apartheid icon will recover.

“The doctors have to remain balanced in this situation,” Maharaj told CBS News. “They cannot raise our hopes without justification. Nor can they make us lose hope without justification.”

Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, served from 1994 to 1999. For his work in the country, he received more than 250 awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Soviet Order of Lenin.

It is speculated that Mandela’s current respiratory troubles can be traced back 27 years ago to when he was a prisoner of South Africa’s white racist government, reported BBC News. During his time as a prisoner, he spent time working in a stone quarry off the coast of Cape Town on Robben Island, where he contracted tuberculosis. He was hospitalized in April with pneumonia.

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