Angelina is the only surviving child out of 11. COVID-19 isn't the first hardship that she has faced.
Remember Angelina Friedman who made the headline earlier this year for surviving the coronavirus? She's back again. If you're wondering what's so special about the lady since there are many who have successfully battled the virus, well, she is 102! Now you know why she's a hero?
A resident of the North Westchester Restorative Therapy and Nursing Center, NY, Angelina was rushed to the hospital on March 21, 2020, for a minor medical procedure. That's when she got the news that she had tested positive for COVID-19, according to WPIX. The medical procedure was postponed and the then-101-year-old woman spent a week in the hospital.
After suffering from a fever for several weeks while being isolated after returning to the nursing home, she finally tested negative for the virus on April 20. Her daughter Joanne Merola was informed about the good news. Praising her mother, she said, “My mother is a survivor. She survived miscarriages, internal bleeding and cancer.” She further revealed that Angelina was diagnosed with cancer along with her husband. While "she survived. He didn’t.”
Six months after surviving the virus, she tested positive once again for it, right after celebrating her birthday. However, once again she came out as the winner in the bout. Joanne, who's proud of her mother told WPIX, "Not only has she beaten COVID at 101, she's beaten it at 102." It should be noted that the virus has been considered life-threatening and has proved gravely dangerous for adults over 65.
Apparently, the nursing home where the warrior stays called Joanne in October to inform her that Angelina "had tested positive again. She had symptoms — fever, a dry cough. They thought she might also have the flu," Joanne recalled. “She is not human,” continued a proud Joanne. “She has super human DNA.”
Joanne revealed that even the staff and other residents of the nursing home were falling prey to the virus and so the elderly were put in isolation. By November 17, she was updated that Angelina had defeated COVID once again and released from isolation. Joanne said, "My invincible mother tested negative." She added that her mother's "iron will to live” is the only reason that she's fought it away. "She's not the oldest to survive COVID, but she may be the oldest to survive it twice."
Angelina's will to survive is a result of the hardships that she suffered way back in her younger days. In 1918, Angelina was known as Angelina Sciales, who was born on a ship transporting immigrants to New York City from Italy. That was the year when the world was going through another pandemic, the Spanish Flu, according to CNN. Her mother passed away during childbirth and her two sisters helped her survive. Their only goal was to reunite with their father who was waiting for them in the city.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Spanish Flu is considered to be the most deathly pandemic in history. Even though there is no specific proof of where the influenza pandemic originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-19. It was first identified by military personnel in the United States, in 1918.
It is reported that over 500 million people all around the world were infected by the flu which makes it one-third of the world's population. The number of deaths the world over was estimated at 50 million with around 675,000 in the United States.
Joanne revealed that Angelina is the only surviving child out of 11. The 102-year-old survivor is a big ball of energy who loves knitting. Last year she was crowned as the prom queen in the nursing home.
As per the New York Times database, around 2,885 new coronavirus deaths have been reported in the United States, with 199,988 new cases reported just on December 2. The average number of deaths over the weeks has been 164,024 cases per day.
References:
https://www.pix11.com/news/coronavirus/nearly-102-super-human-westchester-woman-survives-2-pandemics
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/02/us/woman-102-beat-coronavirus-again-trnd/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html#states
