101-Year-Old New York Woman Beat Coronavirus and the Spanish Flu

Her family says the centenarian possesses "Superhuman DNA."

Call her supper granny — Angelina Friedman proudly shares that she is 101-year-old and beat COVID-19. The Westchester, New York woman not only beat the coronavirus at her nursing home but also lived through the 1918 flu pandemic. 

Her family says the centenarian possesses "Superhuman DNA." Friedman said she is feeling good after recovering.

The coronavirus is deadliest in elderly people. In New York City, nearly half of those who have died are 75 and older. Yet the overall death rate among elderly people has hovered around 13%, according to some estimates, and there have been many encouraging stories of high-risk patients who have survived.

A 101-year-old man who survived World War II and the 1918 Pandemic, known historically as the Spanish Flu, was also reported to have beaten the disease late last month, becoming "the story everyone talked about" at his Rimini, Italy, medical facility, according to city officials. 

Also in March, 90-year-old Geneva Wood made headlines for surviving the disease. She was under intensive care at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, which had already seen at least 35 deaths at the time. Doctors told her family they had done everything they could and to prepare for the worst, but she miraculously recovered.

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