..and Rita, 99, is oldest to beat disease
A 99-YEAR-OLD great-grandmother is believed to be the oldest person in the UK to have recovered from coronavirus.
Great-grandmother Rita Reynolds fell ill last Wednesday and, after she tested positive for the virus, the family was told to expect the worst as her condition deteriorated.
End of life drugs were ordered and Rita was kept comfortable by the dedicated staff at her care home,
Abbeyfield in Bramhall, Stockport.
But against all odds, Rita fought back and started to pull through and get better.
On Friday, district nurses said she was on the mend. Rita’s relieved grandson Henry Phillips has now joked that her incredible recovery has probably been aided by her diet of ‘marmalade sandwiches and biscuits’ – her favourite thing to eat.
Former Women’s Air Force driver Rita, who survived The Blitz by hiding under the kitchen table reading a book, is now looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday in July.
Henry, 37, an accountant, said: “I was certain that was it for her.
“When you hear everything you hear about coronavirus, and a 99-year-old gets it – she’s 99 so obviously she’s frail – I didn’t think there was any way she would recover from it.
“But she seems to have done it.” Joking, he added: “I don’t know how she got through it. I don’t think she has ever eaten a vegetable or fruit.
“She lives on marmalade sandwiches and biscuits, but she’s had a terrible diet her entire life. She’s always just eaten chocolates and biscuits. But she’s never smoked or really drank. At the home they always ask her what she wants to eat and joke that they don’t know why they ask her – every day she only ever wants marmalade sandwiches. Biscuits, cakes and marmalade sandwiches – that’s probably what got her through it.”
Henry paid tribute to the staff at Abbeyfield in Bramhall who have continued to give his grandmother “incredible” care throughout.