Mbah Gotho, from Java, has been named as the world's longest lived human at 145 years old An Indonesian man who claims to be the longest living human in recorded history has described how he “just wants to die”.
Mbah Gotho, from Sragen in central Java, was born on December 31, 1870, according to the date of birth on his identity card.
Now officials at the local record office say they have finally been able to confirm that remarkable date as genuine. Mbah Gotho's identity card, showing his date of birth as December 31, 1870 Mbah Gotho's identity card, showing his date of birth as December 31, 1870. He is registered under his official name, Sodimejo; like many Indonesians he was only given one Credit: CEN
If independently confirmed, the findings would make Mr Gotho a staggering 145 years old – and the longest lived human in recorded history.
But despite his incredible longevity, Mr Gotho says he has little wish to remain on this earth much longer.
“What I want is to die. My grandchildren are all independent,” he told local media this week.
Mr Gotho has outlived all 10 of his siblings, four wives, and even his children. His nearest living relatives are grand children, great grand children, and great-great grandchildren.
One of Mr Gotho’s grandsons said his grandfather has been preparing for his death ever since he was 122.
He has even bought a burial site close to the graves of his children.
“The gravestone there was made in 1992. That was 24 years ago,” Mr Gotho’s grandson said.
Members of the family said Mr Gotho now spends most of his time sitting and listening to the radio because his eyesight is too poor to watch television.
He has had to be spoon-fed and bathed for the past three months as he has become increasingly frail.
When asked what his secret to longevity is, Mr Gotho replied: “The recipe is just patience.”
While record office staff say they have confirmed the birth date on his identity card, he will not make it into the record books until the findings are independently verified.
The current record holder, French woman Jeanne Calment, died in 1997 at the age of 122.
e’s having | Health tips from Britain’s oldest woman
A glass of sherry and a generous dollop of butter might strike fear into the hearts of clean eaters everywhere, but for 113-year-old Gladys Hooper, a dose of what you fancy has always done more good than harm.
Now the oldest person in Britain – a title she has held since the death of 114-year-old Ethel Lang last January – the supercentenarian maintains a positive outlook on life. A former concert pianist, Gladys has lived through some of the most monumental moments in history and has seen 21 British prime ministers come and go.
“She’s had a very happy and productive century,” her 85-year-old son, Derek, says. She has achieved a number of feats in recent years, including entering the Guinness World Records in 2015 for being the oldest person in the world to have a hip replacement. “Isn’t it amazing?” he gushes – and it is, not least because of Gladys’s penchant for an early morning tipple.
Sherry aside, her diet has almost always been preservative-free: growing up on a smallholding near Rottingdean, Sussex, Gladys and her five siblings were used to hearty portions of meat, as well as a steady stream of dairy and eggs from their livestock, plus loaves of fresh bread baked by her mother. Plenty of clean countryside air and an active lifestyle – as the wife of pilot and ballroom dancing enthusiast Leslie Hooper, who died in 1977 – have all contributed to her grand age, which surpasses that of the average British woman by some 30 years.
Now living in a care home in the Isle of Wight, where Derek visits every other day armed with bananas and Ribena, the pair talk over the trappings of the modern world; Gladys has an “intense dislike” of rap music, Derek says, but adores the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whom she deems “just wonderful”. At 113 years, her sense of humour remains. Discussing her health recently, she observed that she must be doing well as she still has her own teeth. “It’s true,” Derek adds, “even if she does only have about four left.”
By Charlotte Lytton