A headstand a day keeps old age at bay
JOBURG – Age is just a number for Rand Aid resident.....read more below
At 90 years of age, Harry Pearson regularly stands on his head.
The resident of Rand Aid Association’s Thornhill Manor became a nonagenarian on 9 July and remains as steadfast in his belief that exercise is essential to wellbeing as he was as a young soldier during World War II.
At the tender age of 14, Pearson went to work at an aircraft factory in Cheltham, England, where he lived. Four years later, he joined the army and was stationed in India and then Burma. In the late 1960s, Pearson and wife Margaret (now 82) moved to Africa and settled in then-Rhodesia for over 10 years, before relocating to South Africa, where Pearson worked for Atlas Aircraft.
Married for 61 years, the Pearsons were among the first residents to move into the newly-built Thornhill Manor 13 years ago and said that they have been very happy in the ‘beautiful, safe village’. They have two children and a granddaughter who lives in Canada.
Always a passionate swimmer, Pearson still swims twice a day, stopping only in May when the village pool is covered for winter. However, all year round, he starts the day at least four times a week by doing a headstand, unsupported and not against a wall.
“All that fresh, well-oxygenated blood is good for the gums, teeth, scalp and hair,” he said.
And indeed, Harry sports a mane of beautiful silver hair that still turns heads.
