Sister André experienced the 1918 flu pandemic, two world wars and “many sad events,” she once said. As Europe’s oldest known person, she will turn 117 on Thursday and has now achieved another feat: beating the corona virus, with hardly any complication.
“She has recovered, along with all the residents here,” said David Tavella, Ste. Catherine Labouré nursing home in Toulon, a town in southeastern 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 house’s most famous occupant rested on Wednesday and needed a break from 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 no case had been detected in the nursing home since the start of the pandemic until last month. Still, the outbreak was a strong reminder that the virus has been devastating in places where the most vulnerable reside, even with severe restrictions that have turned many care homes in the country and elsewhere in Europe into fortresses.
Sister André remained isolated for weeks and felt a little “patraque”, or color, 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 known person to survive Covid-19.
“She kept saying to me, ‘I’m not afraid of Covid because I’m not afraid of dying, so give my vaccine doses to those who need them,” said Mr Tavella.
Sister André’s story made headlines in France and brought comforting news in a country where thousands of nursing home residents have died.
France started vaccinating health workers this week, but authorities have been criticized for a slow rollout that has so far left France struggling with increasing numbers of infections and no end of restrictions in sight. On Wednesday, 2.2 million people had been vaccinated, less than 3 percent of the population.
Nursing home administrators have limited visits or asked family members to wear coats, masks, gloves and glasses to protect residents. Many residents have remained isolated for almost a year and were unable to spend the Christmas holidays with their families.
Sister André was born Lucile Randon in 1904 and took her ecclesiastical title in 1944 when she joined a Catholic charity organization. Now blind and in a wheelchair, she has sometimes felt lonely and dependent, she told French news media in interviews in recent years, but she has accepted the ordeal that caused the pandemic, Mr Tavella said.
“If you’ve been an adolescent in a pandemic that killed tens of millions of people, and you’ve seen the horrors of two world wars, you’re putting things into perspective,” added Mr Tavella.
Stories of other aging figures going through the pandemic have also spawned stories of resilience, despair and hope. In Belgium, Simon Gronowski, a Holocaust survivor, lifted up his neighbors by playing the piano. In New Jersey, Sylvia Goldsholl defeated the coronavirus last year at the age of 108 because, she said, she was “determined to survive.”
Tom Moore, the 100-year British Army veteran who became a national hero during the pandemic by raising tens of millions of pounds for the UK’s National Health Service, died of the coronavirus last week, sparking numerous tributes in the country and out there.
Mr. Tavella said Sister André remained patient during weeks of isolation, although the garrulous nun inquired a few times when she could see people again.
“Sister André did not feel the disease, so she often wondered why we talked about the coronavirus every day, why she couldn’t get a visit from us in the nursing home, or from relatives or inmates,” says Tavella. added.
On Wednesday most of the nursing home residents were out of their isolation and Sister André was preparing for her birthday.
She should be pretty busy on Thursday. After a phone call with her family, she will have another conversation with the mayor of Toulon before greeting the bishop who will visit her.
Then comes the fun part: port wine as a starter for lunch, followed by foie gras with hot figs. Sister André will have roast capon with mushrooms and sweet potatoes for her main course, followed by a platter of two cheeses – roquefort and goat cheese – and maybe a few glasses of red wine.
And finally, her favorite dessert: a raspberry and peach baked Alaska. That comes with a glass of champagne.