'My hat goes off to her': 102-year-old recovering from COVID-19
Verla Pacey lived through the Spanish flu epidemic, two world wars
Verla Pacey was just a toddler when Spanish flu killed 50 million people worldwide.
Now, more than a century later, the 102-year-old is well on her way to making it through another pandemic relatively unscathed.
Pacey, a resident at the Stoneridge Manor Long Term Care Home in Carleton Place, Ont., contracted COVID-19 sometime last month — but according to her grandson, Brendon Pacey, whatever symptoms she had were mild.
And while she continues to test positive, she hasn't shown any signs of the respiratory illness in 14 days and is now considered recovered, he told CBC News.
"We are cautiously optimistic that she's through the thick of it," Pacey said. "I couldn't be prouder [of her] for being 102 years old and surviving such a thing."
'It's quite incredible'
Born in 1917 in New Liskeard, Ont., Verla Pacey would have been only a year old when Spanish influenza began to make its way around the globe.
Over the course of 1918 and 1919, the flu would eventually infect — based on some estimates — as much as one-third of the world's population. In Canada, some 55,000 people died.
According to Brendon Pacey, there's no evidence his grandmother ever contracted the virus as a young girl. The family didn't talk about those times much either, he said.
"It's quite incredible to have survived two world wars, the Spanish flu of course, and [now] to have survived this virus as well," he said.
"My hat goes off to her, and how resilient she is — I'm quite speechless."
According to a statement issued by Revera, which operates Stoneridge Manor, 52 residents have contracted the virus since the outbreak began April 1.
Forty-five have recovered, while the others are in isolation, according to a statement from Dr. Rhonda Collins, the company's chief medical officer. Another 29 staff have tested positive, with 20 recovered and back at work, she added.
As of Wednesday night, six residents have died from the virus.
"My heart goes out to everyone who's lost loved ones through this," Pacey said. "I can't even imagine what it's like for somebody to lose a loved one and not be able to be there."
Douglas Black, the mayor of Carleton Place, called the COVID-19 deaths at Stoneridge Manor an "awful situation" that's resonated throughout the eastern Ontario community.
Nevertheless, he's relieved such a high percentage of residents and staff have recovered, given the difficulty so many other long-term care homes are having with managing outbreaks.
"It's a good news story in the scheme of this pandemic," Black said.
