A great-grandma who ‘ages backwards’ says she often gets mistaken for a woman in her 40s.
Connie Meyer-Ping was told she had two to five years left to live after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease - a rare condition that affects the brain and the nerves - last year.
The 80-year-old decided to take the news as her 'wake-up call' to start living life to the fullest, with photos showing her enjoying her latest birthday last month in Las Vegas.
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The gran-of-seven jetted off to Sin City with 71-year-old husband Nathan Ping, and posted snaps from their glam trip online afterwards - soon going viral as people remarked on just how youthful she looked, with many convinced she was actually in her forties.
Connie claims strangers aren’t the only ones who mistake her for someone much younger, claiming family members compare her to Benjamin Button as she ‘ages backwards’.
She is now urging other women to stop feeling ‘defined by age’ and to instead go out and have fun - as she did with her recent Vegas photoshoot.
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The young-at-heart grandmother also enjoys travelling, yoga retreats, going to the gym, and thrill-seeking adventures like exploring submarines and caves in her spare time.
Connie, from Decatur, Illinois, US, said: "Around 18 months ago I was given a diagnosis of ALS and they told me that I have two to five years to live, it was really a wake-up call.
"Me and my husband knew that we needed to do the things that we wanted to do and not put them off and procrastinate any longer.
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"It was my birthday and our anniversary was coming up and I had never been to Las Vegas.
"I'd been on a travel Facebook page and I saw the flying dress photoshoots and wondered if they had them there."
She added: "I went online and found a photographer who was absolutely fantastic. We got to Las Vegas and I had my make-up done and they got us all ready.
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"A couple of young men from Italy who looked to be in their early twenties asked to have a picture with us, I think they thought we were famous.
"The crowd was just ooh-ing and ah-ing and my husband and I were looking into each other's eyes and embracing, it was just so much fun.
"It was exhilarating, it was like nothing that we had ever experienced or dreamed of.”
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When Connie shared photos from the trip online, people told her the images were ‘inspirational’, with others asking if she was really 80.
She continued: "We were in Tennessee for a yoga retreat and we went to lunch and had a Bloody Mary, and the guy asked for my ID.
"My daughter always says, 'I think you're like Benjamin Button, you're ageing backwards'.
"I get a lot of people saying stuff like that to me. It's kind of amazing, because when you're young, nobody cares.
"But here I am at 80 years old, and all of a sudden it's a phenomenon."
Connie now runs a blog with 49-year-old daughter Randi Rigsby, which is dedicated to helping women over 50 stay healthy and active, and focused on self-improvement.
Despite living with the symptoms of motor neurone disease, she always makes time to go to the gym and do plenty of socialising.
"I still have the symptoms, my muscles twist and cramp, but I'm still able to walk and go to the gym every day,” Connie added.
"We just have found that regardless of your age, it's just really important to keep up with social activities and spend time with family.
"You always think you have time, but maybe you don't."
Topics: Life
Jess Hardiman