- 110-year-old grandmother Nurie saw after surgery 5 years ago
- The Rhodope woman has six children, 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren
- She has never been in government work, growing tobacco, potatoes and beans
- She eats what she has in the home garden, she has not licked alcohol or cigarettes
“My mother has had three strokes, she has had bile and eye surgeries, but she is still healthy and alive,” said Ramadan Dermendjiev, 80, of the Madan village of Srednogortsi. He is the eldest of Nurie Dermendzhieva’s six children.
Baba Nurie was born in 1912 and is the oldest person in Bulgaria. She raised her children almost alone. Her husband, Recep, was four years younger than her and died of silicosis in 1952 when he was just 36.
“My father was very hardworking. He worked in the ore flotation factory in Srednogortsi, which no longer exists. He walked for an hour to get to the factory, and then walked back. He always carried a beautiful yellow bag with a lid. He put a lot of white bread in it and some small treat for us. He managed to build us a house that had a room for everyone, ”says Ramadan.
At that time the family lived in the village of Rustan, which is now completely depopulated and has no permanent residents.
“When I married Ramadan, I helped my mother-in-law look after her children. My husband was taken as a soldier, and his brothers and sisters were younger than me. My mother-in-law remembers her
carries water from 300 meters in two buckets on a rocker and a third in the hand
Later, when we sowed tobacco, he brought water again to water the seedlings, ”said Myumyune, Grandma Nurie’s eldest daughter-in-law. As early as the early 1970s, Ramadan built a house in Srednogortsi, followed by his brothers.
“My mother was very healthy until she was 80 and did not go to hospital for long. He then suffered three mild strokes, but over a relatively long period of time, not one after the other. Doctors say that is the reason why he stays in good health. Her bile was removed due to illness, but this operation did not affect her significantly. The team had even missed something, so they opened it a second time, “said her son.
He only started working at the age of 16 to help his large family. First he distributed the tools of engineers for the construction of a dam in the area, then he was a coal miner, fireman, worked on limestone and in “Gorubso”. As a child, he was responsible for the warmth of the family. He made it look like a cart with an abandoned iron wheel, and for a mile he collected sticks to push them to their house. One load arrived in one day. “It was a very hungry year. I remember walking an hour and a half to Smolyan.
I was digging a garden with beans all day, and my salary was a pound of salt
There was simply no salt at home, “said Ramadan.
“My mother is a peasant woman. All her life she worked on tobacco, growing potatoes and beans. We have always had a cow and milk and homemade butter respectively. Because we were many children, she never did government work so she could have free time to raise us. He is retiring as a farmer “, intervenes the second son of grandmother Nurie – Recep.
“She did not cook with oil, but always with homemade butter
She was never capricious about eating, but she preferred what we grew for ourselves in the garden. He had a habit of lying down and even taking a nap after eating. She has always been a calm and balanced person. She was not angry about everything, she always respected others. I don’t remember her ever quarreling. “She has never tasted alcohol or smoked cigarettes,” he said.
Now Grandma Nurie receives about BGN 560 per month – from pensions, widows and other old-age benefits. Ramadan is her personal assistant, but recently he and his wife have lost their health and share the costs and care of the centenarian with her other children and grandchildren.
“Now we have to help our parents, who have to look after their parents. We see each other relatively rarely and at first Grandma Nurie couldn’t even recognize me. “Afterwards, you probably guessed who I was by my voice,” said Ramadan’s son, Ismet.
He is 57 years old and is actually the eldest grandson of Grandma Nurie. He is a builder and has been living with his family in England for 15 years.
Ramadan and Recep are neighbors in Srednogortsi. Grandma Nurie’s third son, Assen, died last year after a very severe COVID.
Her daughters – Myumyune, Emine and Chrysanthemum, are married in Byala Reka, Tarun and Smolyan. Each of the children looks after their mother on a rotating basis, she has never been deprived of care. From the beginning to the end of May she will be with her youngest daughter.
Of all her children, Grandma Nurie has 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
The heirs admit that it was the most difficult for them 5 years ago, when they had to decide whether to have surgery due to progressive blindness. Together they decided to go to the hospital, although he may not be able to withstand the operation.
The centenarian has not seen with both eyes for years because of cataracts. Baba Nurie
she could not distinguish even the plate and the cutlery
“There was always a man around her. He wanted to walk in the yard and gardens, but he could fall. “Before the operation, it was so bad that we had to feed her,” the daughter-in-law recalled. The doctors from the ophthalmology department at the Smolyan Hospital determined that she was a completely healthy woman and could undergo surgery, even though she was 105 at the time.
Before the operation, she could only tell the difference between light and dark. The medical team from Smolyan was aware that it was impossible to fully restore vision. Only her right eye was operated on. On the left eyelid had fallen and there was no way to get the desired result, even if he underwent intervention.
“Even after the operation, I tested it personally. He hadn’t seen a finger in a meter before. “Not only did he see them then, but he could tell how many fingers were raised,” Ramadan said.
“She did not come for an examination after the operation, but I learned from her relatives that she was fine. It was exciting for me not only to touch a person of that age, but also to be able to help “, says Dr. Petar Yanev, head of the operations team.
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