Nelson Mandela

Sorry to be picky, moved, but did Mandela get a lung infection because he was imprisoned on Robben Island, or has an infection that happened there, and which perhaps was not treated very effectively in prison, recurred?

I only ask because to live on an island in Table Bay does not seem, on the surface, to be the sort of thing that would 'cause' lung infections.

According to the BBC he did.

But you're not imprisoned, hopefully.

I have a vague recollection of, I think, a Russian leader who was kept alive for months though it was obvious that he was, to all intents and purposes "dead". It was really quite grotesque. Does anyone remember this?

Just watched it , thank you Grannynot.

or even Grannyknot !!

Bags Nelson Mandela, and others, were made to do hard-labour in a limestone quarry and this was the cause of long-term lung problems.

Nelson Mandela had TB on Robben Island which left him with damaged lungs. www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jul/16/aids.nelsonmandela

Thanks, anno. TB would do it.

Yes, moved, I wasn't saying he didn't have a lung infection while on Robben Island, just querying whether living on Robben Island, whether imprisoned or not, would cause lung infections. Having TB while there might easily mean he had persistent lung problems for the rest of his life, but it's more likely he caught TB from other prisoners, I should have thought.
#scientific mind.
Perhaps galen will correct me when she returns

Eloethan, I think both Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko were kept alive for political purposes. Their signatures were forged on documents by the politburo.

I'm sure you're right, Bags. You don't catch TB out of thin air, but it is extremely infectious person to person. I remember the 'spitting forbidden' signs in buses when I was young. This was a TB prevention measure. Our generation was so fortunate to be in at the beginning of mass BCG vaccination. Sorry - I digress!

Eloethan was it Brezhnev who turned out to be dead whilst they were still claiming he was alive and in a coma?

TB is getting more common and apparently BCG vaccinations are not as effective as they thought.

Aka I did see it. . I'm looking forward to the film version of 'Long Walk to Freedom' with Idris Elba in the starring role.

So I've been missing 'home' and consoling myself with listening to Johnny Clegg today, here's another one, seems apt, "Spirit of the Great Heart". www.youtube.com/watch?v=g48_fqX7KJc

Conditions on Robben Island were horrendous, especially in the early days of apartheid. Prisoners were crammed into cells, often sixty in a cell designed for twenty. Food was basic, as was medical care. Forced labour, long hour in the sun, beatings from warders, 'intimate' searches, humiliation and worse. Exactly the kind of conditions where diseases such as TB flourish.

aka, yes, indeed.

And Aka conditions were very much worse for the black prisoners than the white! We thought Robben Island would be very touristy and naff, it wasn't it was very moving.

I even went on a boat to get there, quite something for me!

His lungs must have recovered fairly well for him to get to 94 though surely?

when, I'm sure your're right about Brezhnev.

gk Thanks for the introduction today of Johnny Clegg. I'd never heard of him before and have been enjoying a little wander around his music and dance on youtube. Reminds me of Paul Simon's Gracelands, which I played and played back in the day.....

Butty . I love his music. It is a bit like Gracelands in some parts. He has a gorgeous soft accent doesn't he?

I hope you found these, Butty:

Scatterlings of Africa www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJkYbtDesLQ and "Impi", so stirring, which is about the Battle of Isandlwana: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTE04OAi_tg

Pity about poor quality audio. ..