South Africa-born Fred Blom, once holding the title of oldest man in the world, has passed away just four months after his 116th birthday.
Blom was his family's sole survivor after the rest of them were taken by the 1918 Spanish Flu. He was deemed the oldest man in the world "unofficially" by South African media outlets.
According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest living man was previously Briton Bob Weighton, who died at the age of 112 in May.
Blom was born on May 8, 1904 and credited his long life to "God's grace," he shared on his birthday.
He also shared that his biggest disappointment was not being able to find a place that was open and selling tobacco to roll a birthday cigarette this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily Mail reports.
South Africa had banned the purchasing of alcohol and cigarettes during their coronavirus-induced lockdown as a measure to control booze-related violence in the country, thus alleviating some hospital admissions.
Blom raised three of his wife's children as his own over their 46-year marriage, and is now a grandfather to five.
"Two weeks ago, oupa (grandfather) was still chopping wood," a family spokesperson told AFP. "He was a strong man, full of pride."
Blom passed away at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa and was deemed a "normal natural death" rather than one caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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