He lived in a cave for 20 years and went out to get the COVID vaccine

Sometimes true stories end up beyond the imagination of any screenwriter or writer. Here is further proof. This is the story of a Men who almost 20 years ago made social distancing his style of life, by moving to a small cave in Serbia to avoid contact with society.

Last year, during one of his visits to the village, the so-called Panta Petrovic, with braids and a long beard, discovered that there was a pandemic. When the COVID-19 vaccines appeared he was vaccinated and now he is urging everyone to do the same. The virus “does not choose, it will come here too, in my cave,” the 70-year-old man told AFP in the forested mountain of Stara Planina in southern Serbia. Before isolating himself, Petrovic donated all silver that had the community, by financing the construction of three small bridges in the municipality. “Money is a curse, it spoils people. I think nothing corrupts people like money,” Petrovic said.

The cave where Petrovic lives can only be reached after a steep climb, and it is not for the faint of heart. It is equipped with a rusty bathtub which serves as a toilet, a few benches, and a haystack which serves as a bed. Petrovic is from the nearby town of Pirot, where he worked as a black market laborer, as he did overseas for some time. He has married several times, in a way of life that he considers “frantic”.

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This nature lover gradually discovers that isolating himself from society gives him a freedom he had never known before. “I was not free in town. There is always someone in your way, you argue with the wife, the neighbors or the police,” Petrovic said, peeling vegetables for his lunch. “Nobody bothers me here,” he added with a smile that revealed his unkempt teeth.

Petrovic usually feeds on mushrooms and fish that he takes from a nearby ravine, but he also descends into town looking for remains in landfills. His visits to the city have become more frequent in recent times. After the wolves killed some of the animals he had near the cave, Petrovic decided to move them to a hut he built on the outskirts of town where he believes they will be safe.

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He had several goats, chickens, around 30 cats and dogs, and his favorite, an adult wild boar named Mara. When Petrovic found her eight years ago, she was just a little pig stuck in the bushes, and he cared for her until she recovered. Now the intimidating 200-pound creature is playing in the stream and eating apples from Petrovic’s hand. “She is everything to me, I love her and she listens to me. There is no money that can buy something like that, a real pet,” he commented. He also has three kittens whose mother was killed by a wolf, and now he is feeding them with a syringe.