Birthday parade held for Ky. woman, 109, who survived Spanish flu outbreak

KUTTAWA, Ky. (WAVE) - A birthday parade was just the ticket to help a 109-year-old woman celebrate her big day in Western Kentucky on Wednesday.

Ruth Evelyn Harrington of Kuttawa, near Kentucky Lake, had the mayors of three neighboring towns take part in her rolling party. Some of Harrington’s great-great-great grandchildren were also in the parade.

Harrington can now say she has lived through two global pandemics, as she was around during the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918. She also lived through 17 American presidents’ terms and Prohibition.