A resident of a New Jersey nursing home, who tested positive for COVID-19 at age 105, has now beaten the virus, crediting her with her resistance to eating nine raisins soaked in gin a day and “no junk. food ”.
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 flu outbreak broke out, recovered from the coronavirus more than a century later, after passing a positive test for the disease on January 25th.
DeClerck’s diagnosis came the day after he received his second dose of Pfizer vaccine, Mystic Meadows administrator Michael Neiman told the New York Times.
Although considered a high-risk patient because of her age, Neiman said DeClerck showed no serious symptoms of the virus and returned to her room within two weeks, gathering her rosary beads and wearing a knitted hat and glasses. of Sun.
“I feel great,” she told CBS on Monday, adding the secret to her longevity: “Pray, pray, pray and don’t eat junk.”
But speaking to the Times, she said the COVID-19 survivor could have something to do with another staple of her life: eating nine golden raisins soaked in gin every morning, which she ate. almost all his life.
“Fill a jar,” she explained. Nine raisins a day after staying nine days.
Great-grandmother Lucia DeClerck (above), who was two years old when the Spanish flu outbreak broke out, has now recovered from coronavirus more than a century later, after passing a positive test for the disease on January 25.
DeClerck (pictured at the age of 100), who lives in the Mystic Meadows nursing home in Little Egg Harbor, has survived three husbands, two world wars, and two pandemics.
Her children and grandchildren remember the ritual as one of the many habits throughout DeClerck’s life and described it as “strange to health.”
His other habits include drinking a homemade aloe vera juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger and “a little gin” every day.
At the age of 105, he also brushes his teeth daily with baking soda – which he admits because it allowed him to keep all his original teeth and not receive his first cavity until he was 99 years old.
“We simply thought, ‘Grandma, what are you doing?’ You’re crazy, “her 53-year-old niece Shawn Laws O’Neil told the Times.” Laughter is upon us now. She beat everything. that got in his way.
Born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1916 to a Guatemalan mother and a Spanish father, DeClerck experienced the Spanish flu pandemic, two world wars, and the deaths of three husbands and a son.
She previously lived in Wyoming, California and even moved back to Hawaii for a time, before settling in New Jersey in the late 1970s, where she lived with her eldest son Henry Laws III and his wife, Lillie Jean. .
After celebrating his 90th birthday, DeClerck then moved to an adult community in Manahawkin, along the Jersey Shore, where he remained incredibly active until he fell on Christmas Day 2017 and moved to Mystic Meadows. .
“She’s just a symbol of perseverance,” niece Shawn told the Times. “Her mind is so sharp.” He will remember things when I was a child that I don’t even remember.
Despite being considered a high-risk patient because of her age, DeClerck showed no serious symptoms of the virus and returned to her room within two weeks, gathering her rosary beads and wearing a knitted hat and sunglasses. sun.
Now, after hitting the virus, DeClerck has won a new appeal from her two surviving sons, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren: “The 105-year-old Badass who hit Covid” (DeClerck is presented in the center with family members)
Born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1916 to a Guatemalan mother and a Spanish father, she experienced a Spanish flu pandemic, two world wars, and the deaths of three husbands and a son.
DeClerck is the oldest resident of Mystic Meadows – and a strong favorite among staff and residents alike, according to Neiman.
“It’s just the sweetest,” Neiman told NJ.com.
After giving positive results to COVID on January 25, DeClerck was reportedly scared and struggled to be isolated from her regular caregivers and fellow residents.
“We were very worried,” her son Phillip told the Times. “But he has a tenacity that is incredible.”
DeClerck is one of 62 Mystic Meadows residents who have contracted the virus since the pandemic began in March last year. Four of them died, including three receiving hospice care, the Times reported.
“We’re as careful as possible,” Neiman said, “but that’s it.” [virus] find a way to sneak in.
Neiman described DeClerck, a devout Catholic, as “a little scared” when she was diagnosed, but said she insisted that “God will protect me.”
Now, after hitting the virus, DeClerck has won a new appeal from her two surviving sons, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren: “The 105-year-old Badass who hit Covid.”
She said that the COVID-19 survivor could have something to do with another basic element in her life: eating nine golden raisins soaked in gin every morning, which she ate most of her life.
DeClerck is the oldest resident at the Mystic Meadows Nursing Home in Little Egg Harbor (above) – and a strong favorite among staff and residents alike.
DeClerck was also caught on a phone call from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday morning.
Murphy later described their discussion as an “uplifting conversation” during a coronavirus news briefing.
For the DeClerck family, they say they are postponing their birthday until the end of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Shawn says the whole family “rushes out and gets jars of masonry” to fill with raisins soaked in gin, in an effort to “recover.”
DeClerck is not the oldest person to have survived the virus. Europe’s oldest resident, Sister Andre, tested positive for the 116-year-old virus.
Andre is said to have celebrated 117 years earlier this month with a glass of champagne at a nursing home in Toulon, southern France, after beating the virus.
Meanwhile, DeClerck said he counts every day after the coronavirus scare as a blessing.
‘I’m very happy to be here. Thank you, Jesus, she told NJ.com.