Courage, faith helped beat virus, says 103-yr-old granny
rome — To recover from the coronavirus, as she did, Ada Zanusso recommends courage and faith, the same qualities that have served her well in her nearly 104 years.
Italy, along with neighbouring France, has Europe’s largest population of what has been dubbed the “super old” — people who are at least 100. As the nation with the world’s highest number of Covid-19 deaths, Italy is looking to its superold survivors for inspiration.
“I’m well, I’m well,” Zanusso said during a video call from the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona. “I watch TV, read the newspapers.”
Zanusso wore a protective mask, as did her family doctor of 35 years beside her, Carla Furno Marchese, who also donned eyewear and a gown that covered her head. Asked about her illness, Zanusso is modest: “I had some fever.”
Her doctor said Zanusso was in bed for a week.
“We hydrated her because she wasn’t eating, and then we thought she wasn’t going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting,” Furno Marchese said.
“One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before,” Furno Marchese said. The doctor recalled when Zanusso was able to sit up, then managed to get out of bed.
What helped her get through the illness? ‘Courage and strength, faith’, Zanusso said. It worked for her, so she advises others who fall ill to also “give yourself courage, have faith.”
For now, Zanusso is isolated from other residents as she awaits a follow-up swab test to confirm she is negative for the virus.
She grew up in Treviso, where she worked for many years in the textile industry. Zanusso, who turns 104 on August 16, had four children — three of whom are living — and has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. —