Angelina Friedman, a 102-year-old New Yorker born in the midst of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, has now survived two bouts of coronavirus, the current pandemic sweeping the globe, CNN reports.
A resident at the North Westchester Restorative Therapy & Nursing Center in Mohegan Lake, New York, about 40 miles north of New York City, Friedman was recently cleared after testing positive for the coronavirus a second time.
In March, Friedman tested positive for the virus after being hospitalized for a minor procedure, so she isolated upon her return to the nursing home. She experienced a periodic fever, but tested negative for the virus on April 20th.
In late October, the nursing home’s medical staff called her to tell her she had tested positive again after she experienced a fever and a dry cough. She was put into a wing of the nursing home with other COVID-positive residents. Thankfully, she tested negative November 17th. A follow-up test confirmed she was free of the virus.
To say the least, Friedman is a survivor. On a ship transporting migrants from Italy to the United States in 1918, her mother died while giving birth to her. Her two older sisters kept her alive until they were reunited with their father in New York, who had entered the US earlier to prepare the way for his family.
She and her husband both battled cancer at the same time, but her husband did not survive. Friedman also survived an attack of internal bleeding and an episode of sepsis.
Her difficult life hasn’t stopped her from enjoying life and bringing joy to others. While her hearing and eyesight are fading, she still enjoys knitting items for visitors. Last year, she was crowned “Prom Queen” of the nursing home.
“She is a mover and a shaker,” nursing home administrator Amy Elba told CNN earlier this year.