French nun Sister Andre said to be Europe’s oldest person, has beaten COVID-19, and celebrated her 117th birthday this week.
Lucile Randon who was later known as Sister Andre after she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, tested positive for COVID-19 while at her retirement home in Toulon, southern France, on Jan. 16.
Sister Andre was isolated from other residents, but displayed no symptoms. When asked if she was feeling scared after testing positive she says, “No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to die… I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else – join my big brother and my grandfather and my grandmother.”
David Tavella, spokesman for the Sainte Catherine Labouré retirement home, said she was doing well, “We consider her to be cured. She is very calm and she is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday.”
VIDEO: "I have seen beautiful things, and I have seen very sad things."
French nun Sister Andre, the oldest person in Europe and who admits to eating chocolate every morning, celebrates her 116th birthday in Toulon pic.twitter.com/1u7WnmAwMU
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 12, 2020
David Tavella said that Sister Andre, who is blind but very spirited, celebrated her birthday with a smaller group of residents than usual because of coronavirus infection risk. “She has been very lucky,” he added.
Sister Andre, born on Feb. 11, 1904, is the world’s second-oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group’s (GRG) World Supercentenarian Rankings List. The oldest person is Japan’s Kane Tanaka, who turned 118 on Jan. 2.