A TINY retired brick layer claims to be the oldest person on Earth after apparently celebrating his 125th birthday.
Marcelino “Mashico” Abad Tolentino, who is just 4ft 2in tall, beamed at his care-home party in Cochachinche, central Peru, to mark the milestone.
Mashico, who cannot read, has toiled in the Peruvian countryside his entire life, splitting his time between bricklaying and farming.
He lived out a simple existence, and never married and or had children.
The Peruvian says he was born way back on April 5, 1900 – though this has not been verified by the Guinness Book of Records.
The record board currently recognises 116-year-old Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas from Brazil as the oldest living human.
And it will be difficult to check Mashico’s claim as the OAP doesn’t have a birth certificate.
But his age is in no doubt in Peru, where the government has issued him a national ID featuring the 1900 birth date.
Last year, the government attributed Mashico’s longevity to a life lived “among the tranquillity of the flora and fauna of Huanuco”.
The statement said he had developed a “healthy way of life and inner peace, reflected in his good health and friendly personality”.
Mashico was born in the remote Chaglla District – which sits at nearly 10,000ft – and was orphaned at just seven years old.
His parents tragically died while trying to cross a river.
And he never attended school growing up, because the journey was too far.
Instead, he began working the fields, rearing animals and selling produce.
Mashico says one of the secret to his staggering age is eating plenty of fruit and lamb.
Chewing coca leaves has also been a life-long habit – something popular amongst locals to give them an energy boost while labouring.
His diet also involved plenty of herbs and medicinal plants he gathered in the wilderness.
Dolores Pérez – the cook at his care home – told local media: “He always asks for avocado in the mornings for breakfast.
“He can’t live without his avocado.”
“Mashico, introduced to the world by Rosemberg Valverde Cruz in 2019, has an incredible life story,” says Cruz. “He has weathered two World Wars and pandemics. Despite recently gaining global fame, Mashico lived without electricity for over a hundred years.
“Disconnected from modern technology like the internet, mobile phones, and instant meals, Mashico lived a simple life close to nature. He sustained himself by harvesting fruits like oranges, bananas, and avocados from his crops. He also raised small farm animals and cooked using firewood.
“An orphan since childhood, Mashico’s life has been marked by tragedy. Although he struggles with speech and hearing impairment in his old age, he recalls his parents being lost to the river when he was merely seven years old.”
The official world record for the world’s oldest person is currently held by 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who took the crown when Tomiko Itooka of Japan died in December.
And the official oldest living man is João Marinho Neto, also of Brazil, at 112.
If Mashico’s age is verified, he would smash both those records, as well as that of the oldest person ever to have lived.
The oldest officially-verified age a human has reached is 122 years and 164 days.
The phenomenal life was lived by a French woman called Jeanne Calment.
World’s oldest people
THE top five officially-recognised oldest people in the world are all women and come from across three different continents.
Inah Canabarro Lucas – Born on June 8, 1908, she is the new oldest person alive. She became a nun in the 1920s and is currently 116 years old.
Ethel Caterham – Born on August 21, 1909, she is the oldest person living in the UK and has spent more than the last 50 years living in Surrey, England. She is currently 115 years old.
Okagi Hayashi – Born on September 2, 1909, she is now the third oldest person and is also from Japan. Hayashi had 8 children, 22 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren. She is currently 115 years old.
Marie-Rose Tessier – The Frenchwoman is nearly 115 and holds the record as France’s oldest person. She was born May 21, 1910 and has been a widow since her husband died in 1944.
Mine Kondo – The Japanese supercentenarian was born on September 1, 1910 making her 114 years old. She is currently the oldest known living person in Aichi Prefecture.
