Mere months after rocketing to worldwide fame as the oldest person in the world, the ride is over for Edith Heffernan, who died late this morning at the age of 115.
There’s no official confirmation yet on her cause of death, but do we really need it? This is the ninth time in the last two years that the world’s oldest person has died. Do we seriously require more proof that she’s just the latest victim of the high-octane celebrity lifestyle?
If you’re still in doubt, just look at these disturbing images of the previous three world’s oldest people, all of whom met the same fate…
With brittle and wrinkled bodies, they bear the unmistakable marks of years in the public eye. No one denies that becoming the world’s oldest person requires talent and dedication, but the fact is, the pressures of fame are too great. Inevitably, they take their toll.
The tragic tales of megastars like Heffernan should give us pause. Children grow up wanting to be the oldest person in the world, but the truth is they’re lucky if they achieve the distinction for more than a few months before the pitiless hype machine chews them up and spits them out, dead.
If only they read the grim studies. If only they knew the life expectancy for the world’s oldest person is now less than one year.
We all chase the glory of being the world’s oldest, but what if that glory is only an illusion? Or worse: What if the glory itself is deadly?
