'Just give me cigarettes': South African survivor of 1918 flu 'soldiers on'

Most people his age have passed on but 116 year-old Fredie Blom of South African is still going strong.

Fredie survived the Spanish flu of 1918 and is determined to outlive the coronavirus pandemic. He recounts how the Spanish flu impacted his family.

“I lost one sister in 1918 , somewhere around there. One sister, a girl in our family died back then. That year when the sickness arrived.

“The people came with injections. Not a needle injection. Doctors didn’t know about it, you were cut with a razor,” he told journalists.

The Centenarian only has only request: “Just give me cigarettes, what else can you give me? What? Nothing!”

He attributes his longevity to God: “The man with the secret is the man above. No one else. He is the king, he gives everything,” granny Fredie admitted.