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

<p>Most people his age have passed on but 116 year-old Fredie Blom of South African is still going strong. </p> <p>Fredie survived the Spanish flu of 1918 and is determined to outlive the coronavirus pandemic. He recounts how the Spanish flu impacted his family. </p> <p>“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. </p> <p>“The people came with injections. Not a needle injection. Doctors didn’t know about it, you were cut with a razor,” he told journalists. </p> <p>The Centenarian only has only request: “Just give me cigarettes, what else can you give me? What? Nothing!”</p> <p>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.</p>