The face of the oldest old

Whereas most would consider themselves fortunate to live till the ripe old age of 90, this woman has been reportedly alive for 125 years. It implies that at 100 she would have been amazingly fit, bright and active. At 60 she would have looked and felt like a 40 year old, perhaps younger. A truly astonishing collection of genes resides within this woman, and the promise, that with suitable intervention and at the very least, such a lifespan is possible for all.

Where did you get the information from Prometheus?

Yours
~Infernity

Saturday, 12 February, 2005, 14:52 GMT

Cuba claims 'world's oldest' man

Benito Martinez says he is 123 years old, while Cuban experts believe he is just four years younger than that.

If that is proved, he will comfortably break the world record. The current record holder is 113 and lives on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.

The Cuban says he was born in Haiti in the 19th century. He says his long life is down to no cigars or alcohol - but good food and a fair share of women.

Mr Castro's personal physician recently said that he saw no reason why the president should not live to be 125.

http://www.google.co...da Silva &meta=

"Da Silva, whom Cadari described as "mentally sound and rational," was married twice and has outlived all but three of her 14 children four of them adopted. "

You can find some websites that reported on it at that google link

For most accurate old-age statistics, see http://www.grg.org/

For update on Maria da Silva, see:

March 5, 2005; Due to the enormous interest by GRG members in the recent claim of Maria Olivia da Silva of São Paulo, BRAZIL, as the oldest person who ever lived, we are showing two pictures of her, even though we do not have sufficient evidence at this time to place her on our list of Living Supercentenarians... Here is her story, so far, from The Associated Press...

"Brazilian Said to Be 125 May Be the Oldest Woman: Guinness World Records Is Currently Researching Maria Olivia da Silva's Longevity Claim"



Our own GRG Senior Claims Investigator, Mr. Robert Young of Atlanta, Georgia, wishes to go on record, saying ...

Let us consider for just a moment that this woman was alleged to have been born on February 28, 1880...

Firstly, if that were true, she would have been the "world's oldest person" since 1997. Why didn't she apply for recognition then? How old were you in 1997? Think about it.
Secondly, this woman is said to have a 58-year-old "adopted" son. Even if adopted at birth, that would have made her 67 years old at the time -- Compare that to fully-validated Supercentenarians:

Bettie Wilson, who is 114, has a 95-year-old son;
Florence Van Stockum, age 110, has an 88-year-old son;
Grace Thaxton, age 113, has an 89-year-old son.

Note that this woman has been living "in a shack." Furthermore, the documents exhibited, so far, were NOT issued in the year 1880. But, if the family can produce some real proof -- as opposed to merely saying "We have proof." -- we would be very interested in seeing this "proof"!

Consider that the chance that anyone could live from age 115 to age 125 is on the order of 1 in 1,000. The GRG has recorded only 17 documented individuals as having reached age 115 (and five of these are doubtful). Therefore, this case has to be treated as extremely dubious; the older the claimed age, the more rigorous the standard to which it must be held.

Finally, Mr. Louis Epstein, our International Committee Chairman of New York, says, "We have requested Mr. Lehman, the staff writer from The Associated Press who wrote the story above, to provide us with additional supporting evidence, but so far he has not responded to our E-mails." We will keep you posted.



More: http://www.grg.org/calment.html

If she has ten birth-children, someone should be able to dig up documentation on them, and confirm to within a decade or so her age. If her oldest child (surviving or not) is only 80 or 90 years old, that casts serious doubts on her claim. If her oldest is 100 or more, then she at least has some credibility in surpassing the 115-mark, and probably to 120. If her oldest is 105 or more, I might even be inclined to believe 125.