Man living in cave for 20 years gets COVID jab
A man who has been living in a cave for the last 20 years has just received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and is calling on others to do the same.
After donating all the money he made to fund the construction of three bridges in the town, Panta Petrovic moved to a cave in the Serbian mountains 20 years ago to avoid society.
Since then, he has been living off of mushrooms and fish from the local creek and occasionally visiting the nearby town of Pirot in search of leftover food.
It was on one of his trips to the town last year when he discovered that COVID-19 has spread all over the world.
After COVID-19 vaccines became available, he was quick to get the jab and is urging others to do so too.
“[The virus] does not pick. It will come here, to my cave, too,” Petrovic told AFP from his cave on the Stara Planina mountain in southern Serbia.
“I want to get all three doses, including the extra one … I urge every citizen to get vaccinated, every single one of them.”
The 70-year-old has few belongings with him, including a hay bed, an old bathtub which he uses as a toilet, some benches, and some animals he keeps.
However, after wolves began killing the animals, Petrovic decided to move them to a shack he had assembled in the outskirts of town to keep them safe.
The gang of animals includes several goats, a flock of chickens, about 30 cats and dogs, and an adult boar named Mara.
“[Mara] means everything to me, I love her and she listens to me. There is no money that can buy such a thing. A true pet,” he said.
Petrovic looks after himself and his animals with welfare and donations of food and supplies for his menagerie.
Images: Getty Images