World’s unofficial oldest man, Fredie Blom, dies at 116
Fredie Blom saw many of the world’s greatest achievements and some pretty terrible moments in his life. From the both World Wars to advances in medicine and technology, he saw more than most people would hope for.
The 116-year-old South African
passed away today, August 22, at the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.
Blom, who survived the 1918 Spanish Flu which claimed his entire family, was considered the ‘unofficial’ world’s oldest man by local media after being born in Adelaide on May 8, 1904. However, the Guinness Book of Records affords the official title to 112-year-old Bob Weighton of Great Britain.
Blom was married to his wife
Jeanette for 46 years, with the union producing three children.
He was still chopping wood just two
weeks ago, said the family spokesman Andre Naidoo who said Bolm passed away
from natural causes and not COVID-19.
The grandfather of five attributed his
long life to “God’s grace” in an interview with AFP last year.
