This photo provided by the Sainte-Catherine Laboure care home communications manager shows Lucile Randon, Sister Andre’s birth name, in Toulon, southern France, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. A 117-year-old French nun who is believed to be the worldâs second-oldest person has survived COVID-19. French media reported that Sister AndrĂ© tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-January in Franceâs southern city of Toulon. (Credit: Sainte-Catherine Laboure care home/ David Tavella via AP.)
Question: How does one cram enough candles onto a birthday cake for one of the worldâs oldest survivors of COVID-19? Answer: With 117 candles, you canât.
A French nun who is believed to be the worldâs second-oldest person was celebrating her 117th birthday in style on Thursday. There were plans for Champagne and red wine, a feast with her favorite dessert, a Mass in her honor, and other treats to toast Sister AndrĂ©âs exceptional longevity through two world wars and a recent coronavirus infection.
âItâs a big day,â David Tavella, the communications manager for the nunâs care home in the southern French city of Toulon, told The Associated Press. âShe is in great shape. I went to see her this morning. She is really happy. She wanted me to tell her the schedule for the day again.â
In this image made from BFM TV video, Sister Andre, born Lucile Randon, is interviewed by David Tavella, Communications Manager for the Sainte Catherine Laboure Nursing Home in Toulon, France, Tuesday Feb. 9, 2021. The nun is the second-oldest known living person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people believed to be aged 110 or older. French media report that the nun tested positive for COVID-19 virus in mid-January but just three weeks later she is fit as a fiddle â albeit it in her regular wheelchair. (Credit: BFM TV via AP.)
It was packed. Some of Sister AndrĂ©âsâs great-nephews and great-great nephews were expected to join a morning video call for her, and the bishop of Toulon was due to celebrate a Mass in her honor.
âShe was very proud when I told her. She said, âA Mass for me?ââ Tavella said.
The menu for her birthday feast included a starter of foie gras, followed by capon with fragrant mushrooms and wrapping up with baked Alaska, the nunâs favorite dessert.
âAll of it washed down with red wine, because she drinks red wine. Itâs one of her secrets of longevity. And a bit of Champagne with dessert, because 117 years have to be toasted,â Tavella said.
As for packing dozens of candles onto a cake, âwe stopped trying a long time ago,â he added. âBecause even if we made big cakes, Iâm not sure that she would have enough breath to blow them all out. You would need a fire extinguisher.â
Sister AndrĂ©âs birth name is Lucile Randon. The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, lists her as the second-oldest known living person in the world, behind only an 118-year-old woman in Japan, Kane Tanaka.
Tavella told French media earlier this week that Sister AndrĂ© tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-January but she had so few symptoms that she didnât even realize she was infected. Her survival made headlines both in France and beyond.
âWhen the whole world suddenly started talking about this story, I understood that Sister AndrĂ© was a bit like an Olympic flame on a âround the world tour that people want to grab hold of, because we all need a bit of hope at the moment,â Tavella said.
By strange coincidence, Tavella was celebrating his 43rd birthday on Thursday.
âWe often joke that she and I were born on the same day,â he said. âI never tell myself that she is 117 because she is so easy to talk to, regardless of age. It is only when she talks about World War I as though she lived through it that I realize, âYes, she did live through it!ââ