ENGLAND – At age 16, Dorothy Howe took her first drag of a cigarette. 84 years and roughly 460,000 cigarettes later, the former secretary credits her longevity to all that smoking and a little bit of whisky.
“I put my health down to whisky and cigarettes. I only drink when I’m out but my doctor said I wouldn’t be alive without them,” she said. “I’ve had a great life and God has treated me very well. I’ve been very lucky.”
According to the Daily Mail, Dorothy’s brand of choice is Superking Black and her daily habit of about 15 cigarettes has probably cost her about £193,000 at today’s prices.
“I keep telling myself that I’m going to quit smoking when they put the prices up, but that’s just not going to happen now,” she said. “When I started smoking, I was about 16, and they cost 11d and a halfpenny for 20. I can’t believe how much they cost now. Whisky tastes just as good as it used to though. My pins aren’t as fast as they used to be, but my mind is still sharp.”
On her 100th birthday, friends took Dorothy out to a local watering hole for a couple of drinks. When she returned home, she opened a card from the Queen.
Dorothy who never had children, still lives in her home in Saltdean, East Sussex. Her husband of 26 years died of cancer in 1993 at the age of 60.
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