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The Americas

At 117, Jamaican woman likely just became world's oldest

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    The world's oldest person Violet Brown, center, poses with her care givers Elaine Mcgrowder , left, and Dolet Grant at her home in Duanvale district of Trelawny, Jamaica, Sunday, April 16, 2017. The 117-year-old woman living in the hills of western Jamaica is believed to have become the world's oldest person, according to groups that monitor human longevity. (AP Photo/Raymond Simpson) (The Associated Press)

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    The world's oldest person Violet Brown poses for a photo at her home in Duanvale, Jamaica, Sunday, April 16, 2017. The 117-year-old woman living in the hills of western Jamaica is believed to have become the world's oldest person, according to groups that monitor human longevity. (AP Photo/Raymond Simpson) (The Associated Press)

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    The world's oldest person Violet Brown clasps her hands at her home in Duanvale, Jamaica, Sunday, April 16, 2017. The 117-year-old woman living in the hills of western Jamaica is believed to have become the world's oldest person, according to groups that monitor human longevity. (AP Photo/Raymond Simpson) (The Associated Press)

DUANVALE, Jamaica – Violet Brown spent much of her life cutting sugarcane in the fields around her home in western Jamaica. She attended church regularly, avoids pork and chicken, and celebrated her 117th birthday last month.

On Saturday, she is believed to have become the world's oldest living person following the death of Emma Morano of Italy, born Nov. 29, 1899.

Brown told The Associated Press she is surprised but grateful to have lived this long.

"This is what God has given me, so I have to take it, long life," Brown said.

Brown is considered the oldest person in the world with credible birth documentation, according to Robert Young, director of the supercentenarian research and database division at Gerontology Research Group, a network of volunteer researchers into the world's oldest people.