Helga Guðmundsdóttir, aged 102, has fully recovered from COVID-19 just in time for her 103rd birthday on May 17, RÚV reports. Helga, who was born in 1917, has lived through two world wars and the Spanish flu epidemic, and even beat tuberculosis twice.
“I’ve gotten it all haven’t I?” Helga remarked when reporters came to visit her earlier this week following her release from quarantine. The centenarian lives at the nursing home Berg in the Westfjords town of Bolungarvík (pop. 931), where she is the oldest resident. She was one of several of the home’s residents that developed COVID-19.
Helga’s granddaughter Agnes Veronika Hauksdóttir has been working as a reserve staff member at the nursing home and says it’s a relief to be able to attend to her grandmother again without being fully covered in personal protective equipment. “It’s totally priceless,” Agnes stated.
Agnes says that Helga’s positive attitude has been a key to her longevity. “I am absolutely sure that it’s the positivity that has gotten her this far. We don’t have any memory of her being angry or griping about anything. So she is an incredibly great role model.”
Agnes looks forward to celebrating her grandmother’s birthday in ten days. “If there was ever an occasion, I think this is it.”
