09 December 2020

Vaccinated Briton, 91, tells CNN ‘no point in dying now’

09 December 2020

A 91-year-old Briton who received the coronavirus vaccine has gone viral after telling a CNN reporter: “There’s no point in dying now when I’ve lived this long is there?”

Martin Kenyon was speaking to CNN’s Cyril Vanier about his experience in receiving the vaccine at Guy’s Hospital in London.

The interview has since been viewed more than five million times on Twitter, as Mr Kenyon – who said he phoned ahead to see if he was eligible – charmed his interviewer as well as audiences online.

“They duly put me on the list, I went off and had a rather nasty lunch, and then came back and they were ready for me,” he said.

“It didn’t hurt at all. I didn’t know the needle had gone in until it had come out. Painless.

“Of course, I couldn’t damn well find anywhere to park my car so I was late.”

The nonagenarian said that he hoped he would soon be able to see his granddaughters once more – although he said that his family did not know he had received the vaccine.

“I don’t think I feel about it at all, except that I hope I’m not going to have the bloody bug now,” he said. “I don’t intend to have it because I’ve got granddaughters and I want to live a long time to enjoy their lives.

“Well, there’s no point in dying now when I’ve lived this long, is there?”

Mr Kenyon appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday after his CNN interview went worldwide, prompting laughter when he asked Piers Morgan: “Now who are you?”

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