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Arkansas Woman Turns 106 After Beating COVID-19: 'We Are Very Grateful,' Says Great-Nephew

fox16 KLRT/ youtube Priscilla Boyle

An Arkansas woman is defying the odds and proving that nothing can stop her — not even COVID-19!

Priscilla Boyle was celebrated by her family this week after the centenarian beat coronavirus over the summer and turned 106-years-old on Sunday.

"We look at this as a miracle from God," Boyle's great-nephew, Garland E. Mormon, told Fox affiliate KLRT. "And we are very grateful that she has pulled through this."

Boyle first contracted COVID-19 in June and spent the entire month in the hospital as she fought against the virus, Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson said during a press conference Tuesday.

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The Moscow resident eventually was released from the hospital, and Hutchinson said she has since "tested negative repeated times."

A few months after her diagnosis, Boyle marked another major milestone when she turned 106 — but because of the pandemic, her family told NBC affiliate KARK that they couldn't come inside her care facility to celebrate.

Instead, they arranged for a socially-distant celebration, complete with decorated cars and trucks, and had a drive-by outside the facility to wish her well, according to the outlet.

While commending her for beating the virus at 106, Hutchinson praised Boyle for all of the other things she has accomplished in her lifetime.

"She moved to Little Rock in 1942 when she was 28 years old," the governor said during the press conference. "She was active at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, and she was a Sunday School teacher, vacation bible school teacher, as well."

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Hutchinson also noted that Boyle was "engaged in business" and was the owner of a beauty shop in Little Rock.

"I thought that was a good story to start off Thanksgiving and be thankful about her long life and what she means to her family and all those that care about her," Hutchinson said.

To make her story even more amazing, her family told KLRT this wasn't the first time that Boyle had faced health problems in her life.

According to her great-niece, Terri Johnson, Boyle also overcame pneumonia and cancer prior to COVID-19.

Her family credits kindness, dedication to faith, and healthy eating as her secret to a long life, KARK reported.

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