World’s oldest person dies in Jamaica at age 117
Her reign as the world’s oldest person did not last long.
Violet Moss Brown is dead at 117. She died Friday in Jamaica, said her son Barry Russell.
Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900, became the world’s senior senior citizen in April following the death of previous record-holder Emma Morano, who also was 117 at the time of her demise.
Brown died at the Fairview Medical Centre in Montego Bay, St. James, at 2:30 p.m. Friday, The Gleaner website reported.
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Russell, 85, said his mother didn’t look well on Saturday and was taken to a doctor who said she was dehydrated.
The last days of her life were fraught with tension as Brown was caught in the middle of a dispute among members of her family.
One group claimed that she was not getting the best care and allegedly took her away from her home. Other panicked family members had no idea where she was. They worried that she would miss a scheduled appointment with officials from The Guinness Book of World Records.
Just days after she was named world’s oldest person in April, her son, Harold Fairweather died at age 97.
Brown was the last living subject of Queen Victoria, who died January 1901. Interestingly, at the time, Jamaica was part of the British West Indies, noted Robert Young, Senior Consultant for Gerontology for Guinness World Records.
Young told the Daily News: “Ms. Brown could see, talk, hear, walk with assistance, et cetera. Among the less than 10 persons in history who have reached age 117, Ms. Brown was probably among the two in best shape.
“I’ve met quite a few supercentenarians in my decades of study, but Ms. Violet Brown was the most extraordinary supercentenarian that I’ve met.”
A supercenternarian is someone who has lived to passed their 110th birthday. According to the Gerontology Research Group’s World Supercentenarian Rankings List, the title of world’s oldest person now goes to Nabi Tajima of Japan, who is 117 years and 45 days old.
Courtesy : BBC
