Francesca Villette
ARCHBISHOP Emeritus Desmond Tutu is not bedridden and is able to walk around despite being in the middle of an intensive two-week course of intravenous treatment in a Cape Town hospital.
Tutu was admitted last week for inflammation, the third time since last month.
His daughter, Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, yesterday briefed media on her father’s condition about halfway through his treatment.
“Although he is receiving his medication intravenously, he is not bedridden in the classic sense as he is able to get up and walk up and down the corridor and he can get in and out of bed to use the facilities.
“We hope that he will be able to return home by the end of next week,” Mpho Tutu said.
“The Arch” had already planned the details of his funeral more than 20 years ago, she said. “He updates it periodically when he wants to change something.
“He may revise on preachers because he has outlived some of the people he would have considered. The Anglican Prayer Book carries you through a funeral,” she added.
When asked about the kind of patient her father was, she said: “In one sense ideal, if you want a patient who has minimal fusses, and in another the worst because he does not complain. It can be a challenge for the nurses.”