A woman believed to be one of the oldest living people in history died yesterday at the age of 128, the equivalent of two pensioners. Cruz Hernandez was born May 3 1878, the year Thomas Edison patented the phonograph and just one of the years Britain went to war in Afghanistan.
She worked as a midwife until she was 100 when she finally decided if she was going to live fast and die young she'd better be getting on with it. There is some dispute about Cruz's real age as she was never issued with a birth certificate, but her mother insists she remembers the date clearly.
She leaves more than a thousand descendants including over 500 great great great grandchildren. Cause of death is not known but police say it's likely she couldn't face another Christmas.
