If you ever questioned the adage ‘Age is just a number,’ you are about to be converted, my friend. In a world that accepts that old age slows everyone down, one surgeon stood against slowing down of any kind. The world’s oldest working surgeon is 89, there’s no stopping this woman.
Meet Alla Illyinichna Levushkina, a surgeon at Ryazan City Hospital in Moscow, Russia who at 89 years of age, is not only still operating, but is performing about 4 surgeries every day.
Alla is unmarried and lives in a flat caring for her disabled nephew and her eight cats. She’s been performing surgeries since 1950 – that’s 67 years of experience – and she’s had zero fatalities. And having performed over 10,000 procedures hasn’t slowed down this badass one tiny bit.
“I work and everything. I have nothing to do in retirement. Doctor – it is not just a profession, it’s a way of life. Why else would the surgeon live, if not to work?”
“There are people I saved many years ago when nobody else wanted to perform an operation on them. And I did that and they are still alive and have grown up children.”
When asked about the secret to her long, eventful life, she only said, “I didn’t find any secret to longevity, I just eat everything, laugh a lot and cry a lot.”
Hats off to you, Dr. Levushkina. You’re a hero and an inspiration to us all.