On June 29, Ekaterina Alexandrovna Baranova, a World War II participant from Almaty, will turn 100 years old. At 99 and a bit, she jokes: her blood pressure is like a cosmonaut’s, and if not for her leg, she would go for walks.
Doctors from the polyclinic of the national hospital, where Ekaterina Alexandrovna worked as a nurse for 39 years, regularly visit the war participant, conduct examinations, measure blood pressure, pulse, assess her condition by various parameters, and if necessary, open a hospital at home. On Victory Day, her former colleagues visited the pensioner, conducted an examination, and then presented her with a food basket.
“There’s a lot of attention, which immediately lifts my mood, I feel good,” the pensioner smiles.
Ekaterina Alexandrovna was born in 1925 in the Belgorod region, and in 1943 she was called up to the army as a nurse, and together with front-line soldiers, she went from Kursk to Dresden.
“I had no injuries, God was merciful. I helped others, saved the wounded under fire, was strong, carried men on stretchers. It was difficult, but we knew what we were fighting for,” the World War II participant recalls.
In Dresden, Ekaterina Baranova met her future husband – Nikolai Vasilyevich Anufriev from Alma-Ata, who had been fighting since the first day of the war and reached Germany. Here, on the basis of hospitals, they set up rest homes for Soviet soldiers and officers, where Anufriev was sent for treatment. Afterward, the young people went to Alma-Ata, where Nikolai Vasilyevich’s relatives lived. The couple had a son, Alexander. A few years later, Ekaterina Alexandrovna’s husband passed away. For many years, the pensioner worked as a nurse, raised her grandchildren Tatyana and Andrey. She married a second time to a border guard officer. She was always very active, attended city events, danced, and sang.
What is the secret to her longevity?
“Do not drink, do not smoke, do not offend anyone, do not fight. Be friends with each other, love. We live in a wonderful country that was given to you by old-timers like Grandma Katya, cherish the peace,” the pensioner advised.
