Joy Andrew defies the odds again to reach milestone in ‘colourful and amazing life’

London: When 99-year-old Joy Andrew tested positive for Coronavirus in May, staff at the care home where she lived put her on end-of-life care and prepared her family to expect the worst.

But Andrew, who has survived a Nazi assassination attempt, a horror plane crash and breast cancer, defied the odds once again and on Sunday she celebrated her 100th birthday and received a card from the Queen.

Her daughter Michele Andrew, 57, said she was proud of her mum: “She has lived the most colourful and amazing life and this milestone is another thing to add to her brilliant list of achievements.”

Andrew was born in 1920 in north London and was raised there. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as a sergeant during the Second World War, and served in the operations room at Bomber Command, which played a central role in the strategic bombing of Germany.

After the war, Andrew, who was from a German Jewish family, was posted to Dusseldorf, where she lodged with an elderly couple who had a daughter who was a Nazi. While in Germany she was allocated a  driver to take her wherever she wanted to go.

“This included a trip to Berlin, where she wandered alone in the remains of the Reichstag. She also went to the Nuremberg trials … this was obviously important to her,” Michele said. “One day the driver picked her up and, en route to the destination, deliberately crashed the car in an attempt to kill her. She still bears the scar on her face from the assassination attempt. The driver was arrested and turned out to be a Nazi.”

After the war, Andrew joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation as one of the first air hostesses. On one flight, the pilot flew off course and ran out of fuel. The plane ended up crashing in Libya and broke up on impact. “The crew survived but one passenger died. They were all stranded in the desert and rescued by Bedouins,” Michele said.

In the 1970s Andrew survived breast cancer. Her husband, David Andrew, a squadron leader in the RAF, reportedly died from cancer in 2013.

Andrew, who now has dementia and lives at Minster Grange care home in York, tested positive for COVID-19 on May 16 but has slowly recovered.

Her daughter said: “I haven’t been able to see my mum since March. Before that I was going in three times a week. I’m worried that she feels like I have abandoned her. Hopefully I’ll be able to go in some time soon, not just to see her but also celebrate her birthday.”

[Courtesy: The Guardian]