A New Jersey nursing home resident who tested positive for COVID-19 on her 105th birthday has now beaten the virus, attributing her resistance to her ritual of consuming nine raisins soaked in gin a day and “without eating junk.” .
Lucia DeClerck, who lives in the Mystic Meadows nursing home in Little Egg Harbor, has survived three husbands, two world wars and now two pandemics.
The great-grandmother, who was two years old when the Spanish outbreak broke out, has recovered from the coronavirus more than a century later, after testing positive for the disease on 25 January.
DeClerck’s diagnosis came the day after he received his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, Mystic Meadows administrator Michael Neiman told the New York Times.
Despite being considered a high-risk patient because of her age, Neiman said DeClerck showed no severe symptoms of the virus and returned to his room two weeks later, grabbing the rosaries and carrying the knitted hat and sunglasses.
“I feel wonderful,” he told CBS Monday, adding that the secret to his longevity was “pray, pray, pray and don’t eat junk.”
But speaking to the Times, he said the survival of COVID-19 could have had something to do with another staple of his life: consuming nine golden raisins soaked in gin each morning, which has eaten the most part of his life.
“Fill a jar,” he explained. “Nine raisins a day after resting for nine days.”
Great-grandmother Lucia DeClerck (above), who was two years old when the Spanish outbreak broke out, has recovered from the coronavirus more than a century later, after testing positive for the disease on 25 January.
DeClerck (pictured on his 100th birthday), who lives in the Mystic Meadows nursing home in Little Egg Harbor, has survived three husbands, two world wars and now two pandemics.
Her children and grandchildren recall that the ritual was one of DeClerck’s many lifelong habits and described her as a “health freak.”
Other habits are to drink a homemade mixture of aloe vera juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger and “a little gin” every day.
The 105-year-old also brushes her teeth daily with baking soda, which she proves to have allowed her to keep all her original teeth and not have the first cavity until she was 99 years old.
“We would just think,‘ Grandma, what are you doing? You’re crazy, “his granddaughter, Shawn Laws O’Neil, 53, told the Times.” Now we have a laugh. He has beaten everything. that has happened to him “.
Born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1916 to a Guatemalan mother and a Spanish father, DeClerck lived through the Spanish flu pandemic, two world wars, and the deaths of three husbands and a son.
He previously lived in Wyoming, California and even moved back to Hawaii for a time, before settling in New Jersey in the late 1970s, where he lived with his eldest son Henry Laws III and his wife, Lillie Jean.
After celebrating his 90th birthday, DeClerck moved to an adult community in Manahawkin, off the coast of Jersey, where he remained incredibly active until he suffered a fall on Christmas Day 2017 and moved to Mystic. Meadows.
“She’s just the epitome of perseverance,” granddaughter Shawn told the Times. His mind is so sharp. He will remember things as a child that I don’t even remember.
Despite being considered a high-risk patient due to her age, DeClerck showed no severe symptoms of the virus and returned to her room after two weeks, grabbing the rosaries and wearing her hat and glasses. knitted sun
Now, after suffering from the virus, DeClerck has earned a new nickname for his two surviving children, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren: “The 105-year-old badass who kicked Covid” (DeClerck is shown in center with family members)
Born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1916, to a Guatemalan mother and a Spanish father, she lived through the Spanish flu pandemic, two world wars, and the deaths of three husbands and a son.
DeClerck is the oldest resident of Mystic Meadows and is a favorite of staff and residents, according to Neiman.
“It’s the sweetest,” Neiman told NJ.com.
After testing positive for COVID on Jan. 25, DeClerck became frightened and had trouble being isolated from her regular caregivers and residents.
“We were very worried,” his son Phillip told the Times. “But he has incredible tenacity.”
DeClerck is one of 62 Mystic Meadows residents who have contracted the virus since the pandemic began last March. Four of them died, including three receiving hospital care, the Times reported.
“We have the utmost caution,” Neiman said, “but that [virus] find a way to sneak in.
Neiman described DeClerck, a Catholic devotee, as “a little scared” when he received the diagnosis, but said he continued to insist that “God will protect me.”
Now, after kicking the virus, DeClerck has earned a new nickname for his two surviving children, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren: “The 105-year-old badass who kicked Covid.”
He said the survival of COVID-19 could have had something to do with another basic element of his life: consuming nine golden raisins soaked in gin every morning, which he has eaten for most of his life.
DeClerck is the oldest resident of the Mystic Meadows nursing home in Little Egg Harbor (at the top) and is a favorite of staff and residents.
DeClerck was also surprised by a phone call from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday morning.
Murphy later described his chat as an “uplifting conversation” during a news conference on the coronavirus.
For the DeClerck family, they say they postpone birthday celebrations until the pandemic ends.
Meanwhile, Shawn claims the whole family “runs in a hurry and gets paddle jars” to fill them with gin-soaked raisins, in an effort to “catch up.”
DeClerck is not the oldest person to have survived the virus. Europe’s oldest sister, Sister Andre, tested positive for the 116-year-old virus.
Andre reportedly celebrated his 117th birthday earlier this month with a glass of champagne at a nursing home in Toulon, southern France, after beating the virus.
DeClerck, meanwhile, said he counts every day after the fear of the coronavirus as a blessing.
I am so glad to be here. Thank you, Jesus, ”he told NJ.com.