A New York woman who evaded the 1918 Spanish flu and beat cancer is now celebrating a brand-new triumph. More than a century after living through her first major pandemic, the 101-year-old was diagnosed with the
CCP virus. Incredibly, she has survived.
The daughter of Italian immigrants, Angelina Friedman was born in 1918 on a ship headed from Italy to New York City, according to her daughter, Joanne Merola, as reported by
WPIX. Sadly, Friedman’s mother died during childbirth, and the little girl was raised by her two older sisters until their father arrived in the United States and the family moved to Brooklyn.
As an adult, Friedman married a man named Harold, and the couple had a family of their own.
“My mother is a survivor,” Merola told
WPIX on telephone. “She survived miscarriages, internal bleeding, and cancer. She and my dad had cancer at the same time.”
However, Friedman survived, but tragically, her husband did not.
Later in life, Friedman moved into North Westchester Restorative Therapy and Nursing Center near New York City. During a hospital visit for a small medical procedure on March 21, 2020, health care workers discovered that their elderly patient had contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
Friedman was hospitalized for a week, but despite her age and vulnerability compared to the general population, the 101-year-old’s condition started to improve.
In mid-April, Friedman was discharged and returned to her nursing home to continue isolating in the comfort of her own room. She endured intermittent fevers for a number of weeks but finally tested negative for the virus on April 20,
WPIX reported.
Nurses at the center said they knew when their 101-year-old resident was feeling better when she started asking for yarn to crochet. Alluding to Friedman’s personality, nursing home administrator Amy Elba told
CNN that she was “super active” and “a mover and a shaker.”
“She’s a big knitter and she makes all kinds of things and gives them away to visitors,” Elba said. “It also just goes to show how much the world needs hope that you can beat [the CCP virus] at 101.”
Posting on
Facebook in January 2019, nursing home staff celebrated Friedman’s longevous hobby. “A beautiful example of how continuing your favorite leisure activity can enhance and promote wellness,” staff wrote. “Our 100-year-old resident Angelina loves to knit and today knitted a hat for our therapy dog, Khloe.”
Friedman, a popular resident, was even named Prom Queen at a spring 2019 event held at her nursing home.
Photos from the day show the grinning queen with her tiara and scepter holding hands with the crowned Prom King, a fellow nursing home resident.
“She was one of 11 children. She’s the last one surviving. She is not human,” Merola joked, speaking to
WPIX about her mother’s extraordinary recovery from the CCP virus. “She has superhuman DNA.”
With the exception of a brother, everybody in the family survived to at least the age of 95.
Referring to the news coverage of her mother’s incredible triumph over multiple adversities, Merola added: “If my mother could see this, I'd say, ‘Keep going, Ma! You’re going to outlive us all.’”
Merola hasn’t visited her mother since February 2020 due to back injury and can’t really speak to her mom on the phone as she is nearly deaf.
On April 24, the nursing home staff took to
Facebook once more to pay tribute to their strong, stoic, and perennially smiling resident. “Lets hear it for Angelina, our 101-year-old resident who beat COVID-19 & is doing great,” staff wrote.
“Let’s make this picture go viral,” they added. “Please share this great news!”
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