PA ImagesA 111-year-old man from Hampshire is set to take the record of the world’s oldest man.
Bob Weighton, who was born on March 29, 1908, is expected to be confirmed as the new record holder following the death of 112-year-old Chitetsu Watanabe.
Chitetsu, a Japanese supercentenarian, died on Sunday, February 23, just days after he was given the Guinness World Record certificate.
PA ImagesFormer engineer and teacher Mr Weighton said, as per BBC News:
I don’t really feel satisfied because it means someone else has died.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Guinness World Records said it is currently in the process of investigating the title for the oldest living man following Watanabe’s death.
The spokesperson said:
Further information will follow soon upon confirmation of the next record-holder.
PA ImagesSpeaking of his impressive age, Bob, who grew up in Hull, said:
I just accept it as a fact. It’s not something I ever intended, wanted or worked for but it’s just one of those facts of life.
You might find it amazing but it’s just one of those things.
Bob previously held the title of both England’s oldest man and Britain’s joint oldest man, until Alfred Smith, from St Madoes, Perthshire, who was born on the same day, died last summer.
Now, he shares the title of Britain’s oldest person with Joan Hocquard from Poole in Dorset, who was also born on March 29, 1908.
Mr Weighton’s career as an engineer took him all over the globe, spending time working in Taiwan, Japan and Canada, and now he lives in a flat in a care complex at Alton.
PA ImagesHe previously told the BBC:
I have not lived my life avoiding being run over by buses or getting cancer or anything else.
I’ve done nothing to deserve or achieve this age. I’m just one of the lucky ones.
The former teacher said money has never been important to him, adding that he thinks ‘laughter is extremely important’.
‘Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people taking themselves too seriously,’ he said.
Weighton said the secret to his long life was ‘to avoid dying’.
The title of the oldest person in the world belongs to 117-year-old Kane Tanaka, she is the ninth oldest living person ever.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.