Though grateful for a long life, a Bloemfontein woman is starting to wonder if God has forgotten to come fetch her, as she celebrates 105 years on earth.
The 105 year old Pollie Nel lives alone in the Westerbloem retirement village in Willows, and is still very active, despite losing some of her sight and hearing in recent years.
She even insists on still doing her own grocery shopping.
Something that leads to some friction between her and 71-year old son Neels, who wants her to stay home and let him do her shopping.
Nel hasn’t been seriously ill since 1997, and Neels says even then it was a battle to get her to admit that she needs to see a doctor.
“Because she’s so stubborn, she insisted on telling the doctors they’re all wrong and she’s right,” he laughs. “I told her she won’t live another 24 hours if she doesn’t get treatment. She said it’s all bull.”
Fortunately she decided to take her doctor’s advice and get treatment, and walked out of Universitas hospital after a week of treatment for pneumonia.
Nel ascribes her long life to “nothing but great mercy from God, because I definitely am not that great.”
However, the record as the world’s oldest woman is not something Nel has any intention of challenging for.
“No, I don’t hope so,” she responds to a question on whether she is up for challenging for the record as the world’s oldest woman. “Another old lady here at the centre says she thinks God has forgotten to come get us. I am starting to agree. All my friends, family and most other people are gone. Just the other day another one of my friends passed away.”
Nel was surprised with a massive cake from Checkers for her birthday, and besides spending the day with her four children, she also had to take frequent trips to the room, to field telephone calls from people wishing her a happy birthday.
Earl Coetzee/Bloemfontein Courant
