PARIS (AP) – Question: How can you gather enough candles on a birthday cake for one of the world’s oldest survivors of COVID-19? Answer: with 117 candles you can’t.
A French nun believed to be the second largest person in the world celebrated her 117th birthday in style on Thursday, with multiple delights and wishes, cards and flowers to make up for her exceptional longevity through two world wars and a recent infection. by coronavirus.
Sister André also received a Mass in her honor and a party with champagne, red wine and port. Then came a nap followed by more parties, including an baked Alaska snack, her favorite dessert.
“It made me very, very, very, very happy,” the birthday girl said. “Because I met all those I love and thank heaven for giving me. I thank God for the problems they suffered.
Sister André’s big day began filming with a video call in the morning with her great-grandchildren and great-grandparents, followed by a Mass in her honor led by the local Catholic bishop, said David Tavella, the home’s communications manager. attention to the south French city of Toulon where the nun lives.
His birthday party included a foie gras entree, followed by a hood with scented mushrooms. “Everything was washed with red wine, because he drinks red wine. It’s one of their longevity secrets, ”Tavella told The Associated Press. There was also port and Champagne“ because they have to toast 117 years, ”he said.
She skipped dessert because she was tired, but she was served it after nap, with three candles and the numbers 117 on top.
Packing 117 candles would have been impossible.
“We stopped trying it a long time ago,” Tavella said. “Even if we made big cakes, I’m not sure I would have enough breath to blow them all. You will need a fire extinguisher “.
Sister André’s birth name is Lucile Randon. The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people believed to be 110 years old or older, listed as the second oldest known old person in the world, behind only a 118-year-old woman in Japan, Kane Tanaka.
Tavella told French media earlier this week that Sister André tested positive for coronavirus in mid-January, but that she had so few symptoms that she didn’t even realize she was infected. His survival was news in France and beyond.
“When everyone suddenly started talking about this story, I realized that Sister André was a bit like an Olympic flame on a tour around the world that people want to take, because we all need a little hope. right now, ”Tavella said.
When Tavella spoke to her on Thursday about celebrating her next birthday in 2022, she replied, “I won’t be here next year,” he quoted her, adding, “But he’s been saying it for ten years. “.
Strangely enough, Tavella celebrated his 43rd birthday on Thursday.
“We often joke that she and I were born the same day,” he said. “I never tell myself that he is 117 years old because he is very easy to talk to, regardless of age. Only when he spoke of World War I as if he was living it did I realize, “Yes, he lived it!”
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Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France