South African archbishop Desmond Tutu was discharged from hospital on Friday, his foundation said, after more than two weeks of medical care to treat a nagging infection. Tutu, 83, has been in and out of hospital in recent months, alarming South Africans who view the veteran anti-apartheid activist and critic of the ruling African National Congress party as the country’s leading moral authority. The much-loved Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been battling an infection.
The love, prayers and good wishes expressed by people around the world had been just as important as the medical attention in aiding the arch’s recovery.
Statement released by Mpho Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu
Earlier this week, Tutu, lying in bed, posed for a photograph with former South African president FW de Klerk, who had paid him a visit in hospital. Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, gaining worldwide prominence for his strong opposition to South Africa’s apartheid regime.