Woman who lived to 108 said the secret to a long life was having dogs instead of children

A woman who loved to be 108 years old credited her amazing longevity to having dogs instead of children throughout her life.

Most of us hope to live long, happy, and healthy lives, though few make it to 100 years old and above.

Ada Daniel, who lived in the Codnor Park Care Home in Derbyshire, England, was one such centenarian and she opened up about what she did to reach such an incredible age.

She revealed to the BBC that she’d had “a lot of greyhounds” when she was younger, and joked that it was choosing dogs over having kids that was the secret to her long life.

Ada’s other secret to living past 100 was to just “keep going”, and she was also partial to board games, with dominoes being her favorite pastime.

However, the one downside to living to 108 without any children or grandchildren of her own was that Ada did not have “a lot of family left”, so Kelly Goucher, the activity coordinator at Ashmere, who run the care home, put an appeal on a local Facebook page to ensure she got as many cards from well-wishers as possible ahead of her birthday in June.

The care home where she’d lived since 2015 “wanted to get her as many [birthday] cards as possible”, with Kelly adding that Ada “quite liked the fact that people know about her because of her age”.

She aimed to get Ada “108 cards for 108 years” sent from local people, but woke up the next morning to find she’d already received “135 messages the following morning of people wanting to send cards”.

The numbers only kept growing as more and more people heard about Ada’s upcoming birthday, and Ada ended up celebrating the incredible milestone with over 300 cards.

The care home also received “lots of donations” thanks to the birthday appeal, with some people even sending in “banners with her picture on and balloons with her name on” to make sure Ada’s special day was just perfect.

Ada also received a card from King Charles III, which read: “My wife and I are so pleased to know that you are celebrating your one hundred and eighth birthday. This brings our warmest congratulations and heartfelt good wishes on such a special occasion.”

In the UK, anyone turning 100 years old receives a card on their birthday from the reigning monarch and will receive another for every year past their 100th birthday that they are alive.

Ada revealed that the fuss made around her 108th birthday and all the cards and gifts she received made her very “happy”.

She was asked: “To soldier on for 108 years, you’ve got to be smiling, haven’t you?”, to which she responded: “Yes. Course you have!”

Anyone celebrating their 100th birthday in the UK gets a card from the reigning monarch, and another for every birthday they have after that. Credit: GMVozd/Getty Images

According to the website Oldest in Britain, there are currently 123 people over the age of 107 in the UK, with the oldest being Ethel May Caterham, who turned 114 in August.

Sadly, Ada’s 108th birthday was her last as her care home was contacted to further comment to the story in November 2023 and revealed she had passed away, via the Express.

What a wonderful way to celebrate her last birthday at the end of an incredible life.