Panta Petrovic leaves a bedroom in his cave in the southern Serbian city of Pirot
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)It’s hard to believe, but some people in remote corners of the world have no idea about the Covid pandemic and the devastation it has caused.
Indeed, this was the case for one elderly man who has spent the past 20 years living in a cave in Serbia, accessible only by climbing up a very steep mountain. (We’re talking social distancing to the extreme.)
Panta Petrovic, 70, only learned about the global crisis when he made a rare visit to his hometown of Pirot, in the south of the country, where coronavirus was taking hold.
After witnessing what was happening, Petrovic decided not to take any chances and booked his Covid vaccine as soon as it became available.
“It [the virus] does not pick. It will come here, to my cave, too”, Petrovic told the AFP news agency.
He also said that he “doesn’t understand the fuss” made by anti-vaxxers, adding: “I want to get all three doses, including the extra one.”
Petrovic then urged everyone to get vaccinated, stressing: “ I urge every citizen to get vaccinated, every single one of them.”
The 70-year-old, who lives on welfare and food donations, also revealed why he decided to live such an isolated life.
“I was not free in the city. There is always someone in your way – you either argue with your wife, neighbours, or the police”, Petrovic explained.
“Here, nobody is hassling me.”
Before his quiet life, Petrovic donated all the money he had made abroad as a black market labourer to his local community, funding the construction of three small bridges in the town.
“Money is cursed, it spoils people,” he said. “I think nothing can corrupt a human like money.”
