Mandela on life support, faces 'impending death'
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela is being kept alive by a breathing machine and faces "impending death," court documents show.
The former president's health is "perilous," according to documents filed in the court case that resulted in the remains of his three deceased children being reburied Thursday in their original graves.
"The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds," the court filing said.
Mandela, who was hospitalized on June 8, remains in critical but stable condition, according to the office of President Jacob Zuma, who visited the anti-apartheid leader on Thursday. The president's office also said doctors denied reports that 94-year-old Mandela is in a "vegetative state."
A younger person put on mechanical ventilation — life support — can be weaned off the machine and recover, but that it can be difficult or impossible for an older person. The longer a person is on ventilation the less the chance of recovery, said the chief executive of the Faculty of Consulting Physicians of South Africa.
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