His father survived the 1918 flu pandemic. At 94, he survived COVID-19.

BROCKTON, Mass. — Like his father before him, Francis Cashin can now call himself a pandemic survivor.

At age 94, survival was a feat for Cashin, who contracted the coronavirus while in hospice care in a Longwood, Florida, assisted living facility. But despite a bleak outlook, and multiple near-death instances before, Cashin pulled through, said Francis Cashin’s son, Mike Cashin.

Cashin’s survival of a global pandemic that Johns Hopkins University says has so far killed over 181,000 victims in the U.S. alone comes a century after his father, John Cashin, faced a pandemic of his own. John Cashin was around 30 years old and living in Brockton when the flu pandemic struck in 1918, claiming the lives of his first wife and their three children.

“What are the odds?” Mike Cashin said.

But John Cashin survived, later meeting his second wife, Nina, and the couple had three children, including Francis.

Francis Cashin was born in Brockton in 1926 and grew up on North Montello Street, where he was known around the city as “Fran” or “Franny,” his son said. After graduating from Brockton High School, Francis Cashin joined the Navy, serving two years toward the end of World War II. He then went to college in Miami on the G.I. bill and joined the FBI after graduation, where he primarily worked in New York and Washington, D.C.

And while Francis Cashin did not live in Brockton again, he would often return to visit family back home, where Mike Cashin said their family would spend a lot of time at the Ash Street playground.

“That was his home, so we always spent time visiting,” Mike Cashin said. ”... He’s been away from there a long time, but he’s there. He’s always been a Brocktoninan.”

And it was in Brockton he developed a determined attitude that carried him throughout his life, Mike Cashin said.

“He’s a very strong-willed person,” Mike Cashin said. “I never lived in Brockton. I was born in New York and grew up in Washington, D.C., but I always associated Brockton with that attitude.”

Francis Cashin tested positive for the coronavirus around July 29, after three of his caregivers, who would sit by his side for about 12 hours day, had previously tested positive, Mike Cashin said.

While his father never had to go on a ventilator, as other patients have had to do as their conditions declined, Francis Cashin’s oxygen levels were down and he had dangerous blood pressure levels, his son said.

“He slept for a couple days and he was very, very weak,” Mike Cashin said. “He had very, very little energy.”

It looked grim, Mike Cashin said, especially with several instances in the past where his family thought Francis Cashin was on his last legs after years of being on hospice, two strokes and having had his last rites read to him at least two times before. They tried calling a nearby church to give him additional last rites, but they weren’t going into facilities due to the risk of the virus, Mike Cashin said.

But despite the odds, Francis Cashin, like all the times before, managed to pull through.

“I think he kind of knows himself a little bit where he just kind of shut himself down (to rest) and gradually took the oxygen off himself and was breathing the room air and his attitude even changed,” Mike Cashin said. “He had almost a ‘Come to Jesus’ attitude, a new spark of life in him.”

He added: “I mean, last week, we were laughing. He has heavy dementia, but he asked if he could borrow my car because he wanted to get the hell out of there.”

When he would visit before the pandemic limited visitors, Mike Cashin said it’s been a ritual of his to bring his father a chocolate milkshake.

“When he’s healthy, when visitors are allowed, I never show up without a milkshake when I visit him,” he said. “Life is good. He’s living for the milkshakes, chocolate and his cookies.”

Back in the day, when Francis Cashin worked as an FBI agent, he had very strict weight limitations and forced him to eat a healthier diet, Mike Cashin said. But in his later years, his father has been treating himself.

“We find it funny that all he eats right now is milkshakes and candy bars,” he said. “Not the fault of the facility. They try to feed him good food, but he just seems to only want to eat the chocolate bars and milkshakes. He went a lifetime with nothing, now he’s making up for it in old age.”

And it was when his sweet tooth returned after he tested positive for COVID-19 that they knew he was going to be OK, Mike Cashin said.

“He had a couple really tough days where ... we were very, very concerned, and once we knew he started drinking his milkshakes and eating candy bars, we knew he was on the road to recovery, so we’re very happy he has recovered,” he said. “And we’re not surprised.”

And on Aug. 4, roughly a week after initially testing positive for the coronavirus, Francis Cashin celebrated his 94th birthday.

“He’s lived this full life and so many other families suffer,” Mike Cashin said. “These folks die along and for that to happen, I understand it’s happening to thousands of people, I just hoped it didn’t happen to him. It didn’t, so hopefully we can get through this thing and get back to our normal routine.”

Follow Corlyn Voorhees on Twitter: @corlyn_ENT.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Massachussetts man, 94, survives COVID. His father survived 1918 flu.