The Turkish media is reporting that Seker Arslan is a supercentenarian, reaching 120 years old after seeing her with a birthday cake that had a large number of 120 on top of it as she celebrated her birthday at home in Amasya, North Turkey surrounded by relatives; spending most of the day praying and reminiscing with family on memories from her long life which includes living through WWI, the Spanish Flu, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, WWII, the Cold War, and now COVID-19.
Apparently, the 120 on top of her cake seems to indicate that her family is uncertain of how old she is, but despite that, an official ID card was shown as proof of her age which suggests that the longevity warrior was born on June 27, 1902, making her 119, not 120.
Local officials are hoping that having her birthday recognized will enable her to be able to claim the title of the oldest living person. Currently, that extraordinary claim to fame is held by Kane Tanaka of Japan who was born on January 2, 1903, and the oldest female person living at the age of 117 years and 41 days which was verified on February 12, 2020. The oldest person ever recorded was Jeanne Calment, a French woman living from February 21 1875 until August 4, 1997, reaching the age of 122. If Arslan’s claim can be verified that would indeed make her older than the current record holder.
Arslan has 6 children and 12 grandchildren, and she suggests that she was fortunate enough to inherit longevity from her mother who is also said to have been a centenarian living to be 110 years young.
However, Arslan’s daughter believes that the long lifespan is down to eating whole natural foods, saying that “butter, honey, and cheese were always on the table.” She adds that her mother “used to leaven her yogurt herself,” and “still has a boiled egg at breakfast” every morning.
Arslan is reported to live with her daughter Yueksel, son in law and 2 grandchildren who caught COVID-19. Despite sharing the same living space Arslan did not catch the virus herself, with all of her test results coming back indicating that she was negative for the virus. Locals in the district in the Astrakhan region where she resides suggest that Arslan was over 100 years old before she went to see a doctor. Yueksel adds that while her mother has Alzheimer’s disease she has otherwise stayed healthy.
Last year a Chinese woman claimed to have turned 134 years old, but these claims are under some scrutiny and doubts have been raised because of her unverifiable birth records.
A Russian woman who passed away in 2019 claimed to be the oldest in the world at the age of 123, whose claims were recognized in the Russian Book of Records and she was also featured in the Guinness Book of World Records.
