Ruby Holt spent most of her 100 years on a farm in rural Tennessee, picking cotton and raising four children. She had never been to the beach, until recently.

She visited the Gulf of Mexico thanks to a partnership between the assisted living centre where she lives and an organisation that grants wishes to the elderly.

Ms Holt laughed as the Gulf water hit her feet, and she walked across the white sand with the help of aides from the home.

The trip was made possible by Brookdale Senior Living Solutions, where Ms Holt lives in Columbia, Tennessee, and the Wish of a Lifetime organisation.

She said her farming family was never able to afford a trip to the coast, and she had left Tennessee only once before.