Graca Machel, the wife of former president Nelson Mandela, has provided emotional stability during her husband’s lengthy hospital stay, according to a report.
“Madiba always wants reassurance that she is close by. She provides emotional stability not only to him but also to many of us,” Mandela’s personal assistant Zelda la Grange told the newspaper.
The City Press reported that since his admittance to Pretoria’s Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital, Machel has not left Mandela’s side for more than three hours before returning to him.
She apparently sleeps in a chair next to his bed and has clothes and other items brought in for her each week.
Sunday marks the 30th day Mandela has been in hospital receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection.
The Nelson Mandela Centre for Memory’s Verne Harris told the newspaper that Machel had requested that some of the tributes left for Mandela at the hospital be collected and brought back to the centre.
“Those that had addresses on she asked us to please respond to, sending thanks. She was worried they would become weathered.” The 15th wedding anniversary of Machel and Mandela is celebrated this month.
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