LONDON, August 21. /TASS/. British woman Ethel Caterham, who is considered the oldest living person on Earth, celebrates her 116th birthday today, the Sky News television channel reported.
Caterham, who resides in a nursing home in Surrey county near London, has so far declined to speak with the press. However, her family released a statement explaining that the super-centenarian intends to spend her birthday "quietly with her family" so she can "enjoy it at her own pace."
Caterham was born on August 21, 1909, in Hampshire county. She inherited the title of the world’s oldest person from Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who passed away on April 30 at the age of 116 years and 326 days.
At the age of 18, she moved to India, where she worked as a nanny, later she lived with her military husband in Hong Kong and Gibraltar, where he was stationed. While still in Asia, Caterham developed a love for children and opened her own kindergarten. After returning to England, she gave birth to two daughters.
Caterham has outlived not only her husband Norman, who died in 1976, but also her daughters Gem and Ann, who passed away in the early 2000s and in 2020, respectively. The British woman is also probably the oldest person in the world to have survived a coronavirus infection. She overcame COVID-19 in 2020 at the age of 110.
The secret to longevity
In May of this year, Caterham told the Salisbury Journal that her secret to longevity is to "say yes to every opportunity because you never know what it will lead to." "Have a positive mental attitude and have everything in moderation," the woman advised.
According to official data from the Guinness Book of World Records, the absolute longevity record belongs to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. At the time of her death in August 1997, her age was 122 years and 164 days.