Woman (102) survived Spanish flu, cancer and corona twice | Remarkable

As a baby she experienced the previous flu pandemic, the Spanish flu of 1918. She survived cancer, internal bleeding and sepsis. And in March she was also hit by the corona virus. But the 102-year-old woman is clearly a fighter. Because not once but twice she managed to beat corona.

The first time Friedman was diagnosed with Covid-19 came as a shock as the 102-year-old lady looked anything but sick. “She was never really symptomatic the first time. The worst symptom she had was a fever that lasted maybe 10 days, ”her daughter Joanne Merola said in a telephone interview to NBC on Thursday. Friedman stayed in the hospital for a week, and in April she tested negative.

Hope in gloomy times

But in October, she was again told she was infected with Covid-19. And this time Friedman was very sick. “She had a cough, she was listless and she had a fever,” says her daughter. Friedman was quarantined and treated. And last month she tested negative twice. According to Merola, her mother is happy and healthy, and during their last phone call she reportedly talked about one of Friedman’s favorite activities: crochet for almost 30 minutes. Merola now hopes that her mother’s special story will give people hope in these dark and strange times.

Because Angelina Friedman’s story is unique. She was born in October 1918, during the Spanish flu pandemic, on a passenger ship that took immigrants from Italy to New York. Friedman’s mother died in childbirth. Her two sisters helped their newborn sister survive until they were reunited with their father in Brooklyn.

Later Angelina got cancer, at the same time her husband was also fighting the disease. He did not survive. Angelina got rid of the disease and also survived many other threats: miscarriages, internal bleeding and blood poisoning.

Meanwhile, Friedman is almost deaf and has lost most of her vision. And of the 11 children in total, she is the only survivor. “My mother has been through so much in her life,” says Merola. And she also gives some advice: “You just can’t give up. You have to fight. My mother clearly has the will to stay alive, as I’ve never seen it before. ”

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