129-year-old woman's birthday wish: That she'd died young

A Russian woman says she wishes she had died young after she reportedly celebrated her 129th birthday this month. Photo / australscope

A Russian woman says she wishes she had died young after she reportedly celebrated her 129th birthday this month which if correct would make her the oldest person in the world.

Koku Istambulova made international headlines last month when Russian officials announced they believed that at 128 she was the oldest person in the world, but she told reporters who turned up to interview her that she had never lived a happy day in her life.

The woman from the village of Bratskoye in the south-western Russian Chechen Republic, celebrated her birthday at the start of this month with her six grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren where she also said she had no idea how she had lived so long.

She said: "I see other people eating healthy and doing fitness routines, I have no idea why I have lived so long."

She added: "It was God's will. I did nothing to make it happen."

"I have not had a single happy day in my life. I have always worked hard, digging in the garden."

"I am tired. Long life is not at all God's gift for me - but a punishment."

She would also have been 55 when World War II ended, and 102 when the Soviet Union collapsed a generation ago.

According to the Russian government, Koku's passport states her date of birth as 1st June 1889.

Koku lost all her children except for one daughter during the Chechen Wars, and her remaining daughter died in 2013.

Some years ago Koku lost her eyesight and now depends on her descendants to take care of her as there are some things she cannot do on her own.

Her granddaughter Azma attributes her longevity to a healthy plant-based nutrition of and hard manual work.

She said: "Grandma hasn't been eating meat for a very long time, even chicken. She only eats fruit and vegetables."

Istambulova recalls Nazi German tanks passing her home during the war and how her family were deported along with the many other Chechens being accused of Nazi collaboration by Stalin.

- australscope