Nun and oldest person in Europe, 116, recovers from Covid

Sister Andre, born Lucile Randon, Europe's oldest person who tested positive for coronavirus and survived
Sister Andre is even ready to celebrate her 117th birthday tomorrow (Picture: Getty Images)

A 116-year-old nun, believed to be the second oldest person in the world, has beaten coronavirus.

Sister Andre, born Lucile Randon, tested positive for Covid-19 in mid-January in the southern French city of Toulon.

But just three weeks later she is as fit as a fiddle and is set to celebrate her 117th birthday tomorrow.

The virus has claimed 12 lives at her nursing home in the city of Toulon, so staff were ‘really worried’ about what would happen to her.

But Sister Andre, who is considered to be Europe’s oldest person, told French newspaper Var-Matin: ‘I didn’t even realise I had it.’

The nun, who is also blind, said she did not even worry when she heard the news of her diagnosis and ended up being asymptomatic.

Sister Andre (C), Lucille Randon in the registry of birth, the eldest French citizen, poses with Toulon's Mayor Hubert Falco (R) and schoolchildren during an event to celebrate her 116th birthday in the EHPAD (Housing Establishment for Dependant Elderly People) in Toulon, southern France, where she has been living since 2009. - Sister Andre was born February 11, 1904. (Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP) (Photo by GERARD JULIEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Born Lucille Randon, Sister Andre is thought to be the oldest person in Europe (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
Sister Andre (C), Lucille Randon in the registry of birth, the eldest French citizen, is pushed in a wheelchair during an event to celebrate her 116th birthday in the EHPAD (Housing Establishment for Dependant Elderly People) in Toulon, southern France, where she has been living since 2009. - Sister Andre was born February 11, 1904. (Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP) (Photo by GERARD JULIEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Staff were worried after her diagnosis, but Sister Andre didn’t let it get her down (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Communications manager for the Sainte Catherine Labouré home, David Tavella, said: ‘She didn’t ask me about her health, but about her habits.

‘For example, she wanted to know if meal or bedtime schedules would change.

‘She showed no fear of the disease. On the other hand, she was very concerned about the other residents.’

Sister Andre, originally from Ales, Gard, tested negative a few days ago and was among 81 of 88 residents at the home who caught Coivid-19.

The oldest verified living person in the world is 118-year-old Kane Tanaka, from Japan.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Enregistrer un commentaire

0 Commentaires