Sister André went through the flu pandemic in 1918, two world wars and ‘very sad events’, she once said. As the oldest celebrity in Europe, she turns 117 on Thursday, and has now achieved another feat: defeating the coronavirus, with almost no complications.
“She has recovered, along with all the residents here,” said David Tavella, the St. Louis spokeswoman. Nursing home Catherine Labouré in Toulon, a town in the southeast of France, where Sister André lives. “She is calm, very radiant and she is very much looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday,” he said, adding that the most famous resident of the house was resting on Wednesday and needed a break from the interviews.
The coronavirus swept through the nursing home last month, just as nurses began consulting residents about vaccinations; 81 of the 88 residents became infected, including Sister André, and 11 eventually died.
Mr. Tavella said that until last month, no case had been detected in the nursing home since the start of the pandemic. The outbreak was nevertheless a serious reminder that the virus was devastating in places where the most vulnerable people live, even with severe restrictions that have turned many care homes in the country and elsewhere in Europe into strongholds.
Sister André remained isolated for weeks and felt a bit “patraque” or colorless, Mr. Tavella said, but she blamed the virus and not her age. She slept more than usual, but she prayed and remained asymptomatic. This week, she became the oldest celebrity to survive Covid-19.
“She kept telling me, ‘I’m not afraid of Covid because I’m not afraid to die, so give my doses of the vaccine to those who need it,’ ‘Mr Tavella said.
Sister André’s story made headlines in France and provided uplifting news in a country where thousands of nursing home residents have died.
France began vaccinating health workers this week, but authorities have been criticized for a sluggish deployment that has left France struggling with an increasing number of infections so far, facing no restriction on sight. As of Wednesday, 2.2 million people have been vaccinated, less than 3 percent of the population.
Nursing home managers restricted visits, or asked family members to wear gowns, masks, gloves and goggles to protect residents. Many residents remained isolated for almost a year and could not spend Christmas holidays with their families.
Sister André was born Lucile Randon in 1904 and won her ecclesiastical title in 1944 when she joined a Catholic charity. Now blind and in a wheelchair, she sometimes felt lonely and dependent, she had told in interviews over the past few years, but Tavella accepted the ordeal that the pandemic brought.
“If you were an adolescent during a pandemic that killed tens of thousands of millions of people and saw the horrors of two world wars, you put things in perspective,” he said. Tavella added.
Stories about other aging figures going through the pandemic also provided stories of resilience, despair and hope. In Belgium, Simon Gronowski, a Holocaust survivor, raised his neighbors by playing the piano. In New Jersey, Sylvia Goldsholl defeated the coronavirus at the age of 108 last year because she was ‘determined to survive’.
Tom Moore, the 100-year-old veteran of the British Army who became a national hero during the pandemic by raising tens of millions of pounds for the British National Health Service, died last week from the coronavirus, which has paid countless tributes in the country and abroad. led.
Mr. Tavella said that Sister André remained patient during weeks of isolation, although the talkative nun asked several times about when she could see people again.
“Sister André did not feel the disease, so she often asked herself why we talk about the coronavirus every day, why she could not receive visits from the old age home or family members or fellow residents,” he said. Tavella added.
On Wednesday, most of the nursing home residents were out of isolation, and Sister André was getting ready for her birthday.
She should be quite busy on Thursday. After a call with her family, she will have another conversation with the mayor of Toulon before greeting the bishop who is going to visit her.
Then comes the delicious part: port wine as lunch, followed by foie gras with hot figs. Sister André’s main course will be roasted capon with mushrooms and sweet potatoes, followed by a two-cheese plate – Roquefort and goat cheese – and perhaps a few glasses of red wine.
And lastly, her favorite dessert: A baked Alaska of raspberry and peach. It comes with a glass of champagne.