A 107-year-old British woman received a parking fine for being
13 minutes late back to her car. Fortunately the parking ticket was cancelled after
she explained that she had struggled to get to back to her car in time because she uses a walking frame.
One of Britain's oldest women, Bessie Farnworth, went out for
lunch with her great-nephew Dave, and parked in a 3-hour zone. She was 13
minutes late back to her car, and the meter expired.
Parking operators issued Bessie with a £70 fine. However, after
Bessie's explanation, the kind-hearted Parking Eye operators apologised and
cancelled the ticket "as a gesture of goodwill."
Dave said: "My aunt Bessie was born before the Titanic was
even built. She's an incredible woman. She was independent until the age of
106. She did all her own cooking, cleaning, shopping. She even did her own
gardening. She's still active but she's a slow walker. I think at her age the
fact that she can even get out in public and have her lunch is remarkable. She
should be able to park there as long as she wants.”
Bessie turned 107 on October 30, 2017 and had a party at her
retirement home. Bessie has received four birthday cards from the Queen. In
2011, she starred in a Channel 4 program when celebrating her 100th birthday
with a helicopter ride.
Bessie married husband Tom Farnworth in May 1941 and was with him until he
died at the age of 90 in 2004. They had four children.
One of her son’s Wilf, who is 74, said: "Her youngest
great-grandson, Peter, is 100 years younger than her, which is amazing really. My
mum is very well-liked at the care home her because she is always having a good
laugh with the staff. She still keeps herself active."
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom
(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest
Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The
Sudan Curse (2009).
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