A 102-year-old woman was infected with the Spanish flu in 1918 and then she tested positive last May for COVID-19 at her assisted living facility, reports the Telegram & Gazette.
Last May, Gerri ran a low fever for a few days, but the fever spiked and she was taken to the hospital where she was tested for COVID-19. By the time the COVID-19 test came back positive, she felt better.
“The story goes,” Julia said, “that she came back into the (assisted living) facility and said, ‘I feel great. When’s lunch?’ And she’s felt fine ever since then.”
Gerri Schappals fought off breast cancer in the late 1980s and colon cancer in the mid-1990s, but her daughter doesn’t remember her ever having a cold or the flu. Julia Schappals said her mother believes surviving her bout with the Spanish flu fortified her immune system.
