French nun known to be world's oldest known person dies aged 118

The worlds oldest known person French nun Lucile Randon has died aged 118 a spokesman told AFP on TuesdayRandon known as Sister Andre was born in southern France on February 11 1904 when World War I was still a decade awayShe died in her sleep at her nursing home in Toulon spokesman David Tavella saidThere is great sadness but it was her desire to join her beloved brother For her its a liberation Tavella of the SainteCatherineLaboure nursing home told AFPThe sister was long feted as the oldest European before the death of Japans Kane Tanaka aged 119 last year left her the longestlived person on EarthGuinness World Records officially acknowledged her status in April 2022Randon was born in the year New York opened its first subway and when the Tour de France had only been staged onceShe grew up in a Protestant family as the only girl among three brothers living in the southern town of AlesOne of her fondest memories was the return of two of her brothers at the end of World War I she told AFP in an interview on her 116th birthdayIt was rare in families there were usually two dead rather than two alive They both came back she saidShe worked as a governess in Paris a period she once called the happiest time of her life for the children of wealthy familiesShe converted to Catholicism and was baptised at the age of 26Driven by a desire to go further she joined the Daughters of Charity order of nuns at the relatively late age of 41Sister Andre was then assigned to a hospital in Vichy where she worked for 31 yearsIn later life she moved to Toulon along the Mediterranean coastHer days in the nursing home were punctuated by prayer mealtimes and visits from residents and hospice workersShe also received a steady flow of letters almost all of which she responded toIn 2021 she survived catching Covid19 which infected 81 residents of her nursing homeWork kept me aliveRandon told reporters last year that her work and caring for others had kept her spryPeople say that work kills for me work kept me alive I kept working until I was 108 she told reporters in April last year in the tearoom of the homeAlthough she was blind and relied on a wheelchair she used to care for other elderly people much younger than herselfPeople should help each other and love each other instead of hating If we shared all that things would be a lot better she said at the same meeting with journalistsBut the Catholic nun had rejected requests for locks of hair or DNA samples saying that only the good Lord knows the secret of her longevityIt is likely that Frances new oldest person is now 112yearold MarieRose Tessier a woman from Vendee longevity expert Laurent Toussaint told AFPBut Toussaint warned that it was always possible an even older person had not yet made themselves knownJeanne Calment who died in 1997 in Arles southern France at the age of 122 holds the record for the oldest confirmed age reached by any humanAlso Read Folks with ADHD may be living with mental health conditions say researchersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever