107-Year-Old Woman Who Survived Spanish Flu, Beats Coronavirus

A 107-year-old New Jersey woman who survived a case of Spanish Flu in 1918 has now survived her second pandemic after beating Covid-19.

Brooklyn-born Anna Del Priore, who is just one month shy of 108, was diagnosed with the coronavirus in May, according to Asbury Park Press.

On hearing the news, Anna's granddaughter Darlene Jasmine, 66, feared the worst.

She told the publication: "I thought, 'Oh my God, this is it. This is the thing that's going to take her down.'"

Brighton Gardens of Middletown, New Jersey)

But while Anna developed a temperature and didn't eat much, she didn't need a respirator and wasn't admitted to hospital.

Thankfully, she's now back to her usual self and enjoying her favourite activities, like swimming, dancing and sewing.

"I feel good," Anna said. "I thank God I'm alive."

Born the year the Titanic sank, Anna has lived an eventful life. Raised by deaf parents who taught her sign language, as a child she contracted Spanish flu during the influenza pandemic of 1918, but made a full recovery.

Later she worked as a seamstress, while her late husband Frank was a tango dancer.

Today, Anna still dances as often as she can at Brighton Gardens, the assisted living home where she lives in Middletown, New Jersey.

Brighton Gardens of Middletown, New Jersey)

"She always danced, always loved music," said Jasmine. "As soon as she hears music, her foot starts tapping."

Like Covid-19, Spanish flu - which is estimated to have infected 500 million people between February 1918 to April 1920 - also attacked the respiratory system.

Darlene puts her grandmother's two-time pandemic beating health down to a good diet and active lifestyle.

"She's constantly moving," Jasmine said. "We always walked in Brooklyn - to the grocery store, to the bakery.

"Every night she would make a homemade meal from scratch. All Mediterranean food - olive oil, vegetables, fruits, nuts. It's like the old peasant food that now they charge you so much for."

Anna is one of a handful of centenarians who have survived COVID-19, according to gerontology site cited by the Asbury Park Press.

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To date, the oldest person to have beaten the coronavirus is a 113-year-old woman in Spain, the site reports.

Bravo Anna, you're an inspiration to us all.

Topics: Life News, USA, Covid-19

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

Mary-Jane Wiltsher is a freelance lifestyle and culture journalist. Elsewhere she writes for Stylist, Euronews, PHOENIX and What We Seee.