123-Year-Old Man: Oldest In The World Ever? Guinness Records Say Yes Bolivian Herder, Carmelo Flores Laura Lives 12-Plus Decades
A 123-year-old man is living in Bolivia, making him the oldest man in the world today. His name is Carmelo Flores Laura was born in 1890.
If the records are correct, this 123-year-old man is in fact the oldest human on the planet today, and ever, which he spanned a life of over 12 decades.
"Flores lives in a straw-roofed hut with a dirt floor in an isolated hamlet near Lake Titicaca at an elevation of 13,100 feet, is illiterate, speaks no Spanish, and has no teeth," the Associated Press reported about the 123-year-old man.
A group of AP reporters approached Flores after a local report came out about him and his age. When they approached him, they had to speak directly into his ear for them to hear anything they were saying.
"I see a bit dimly. I had good vision before. But I saw you coming," Flores told them in the Aymara language he speaks.
According to the AP, Carmelo's face looks like something out of science fiction - darkened with thick leathery skin, beady, sunken eyes and curls of random whiskers.
Flores doesn't wear glasses or a cane to walk.
The director of Bolivia's civil registrar, Eugenio Condori, showed The Associated Press the registry that lists Carmelo Flores' birthdate as July 16, 1890. He said there is no physical birth certificate because it didn't exist in Bolivia at the time.
"For the state, the baptism certificate is valid because in those days priests provided them and they were literate," Condori said. He said he could not show Flores' baptism certificate to the AP because it is a private document.
At the possible 123-year-old man's age, is starting to lose his memory, as expected.
"I should be about 100 years old or more," Flores said.
What would allow someone to live 12 decades?
"I walk a lot, that's all. I go out with the animals," Flores said, who long herded cattle and sheep. "I don't eat noodles or rice, only barley. I used to grow potatoes, beans, oca (an Andean tuber)."