World | Nelson Mandela Mandela's 'Sparkle Fading,' Says Wife Makes comments as former leader diagnosed with lung infection By Kate Seamons Posted Dec 11, 2012 5:59 AM CST Copied Nelson Mandela reacts as Zambia's former President Kenneth Kaunda, unseen, makes a joke during his 90th birthday celebrations at his house in Qunu, South Africa, Saturday, July 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, Pool) The first specifics of Nelson Mandela's condition are trickling out following the former president's weekend hospitalization, and they're both encouraging and heart-tugging. The New York Times reports that his condition has been revealed as a recurring lung infection, and he is reportedly "responding to the treatment." But wife Graca Machel spoke yesterday of the difficulty of seeing him age, reports the AFP, telling a news station, "It's something also which pains you. ... I mean, this spirit and this sparkle, you see that somehow it's fading." The 94-year-old was also hospitalized for a respiratory infection in January 2011; he was hospitalized earlier this year with stomach pains. Read These Next Mid Actor Sam Rockwell gets residuals from movie he wasn't in. That 'buy now, pay later' loan may soon hit your credit score. Cops: Arizona 5th graders drew up plot to 'end' a classmate. Report an error