Hana Horka, a folk singer from the Czech Republic, has died at age 57 after she reportedly caught COVID-19 on purpose.
The BBC reports that Horka was unvaccinated, and – per her son, Jan Rek – contracted the virus intentionally in an effort to obtain “a recovery pass to access certain venues”. It’s reported that Horka died last Sunday (January 9), two days after she’d stated on social media that she was recovering and looking forward to “theatre, sauna, [and] a concert”.
She’s alleged to have caught the virus either from Rek or his father, after the pair – who the report notes are both fully vaccinated – contracted COVID-19 over the holiday period last year. “She should have isolated for a week because we tested positive,” Rek told the BBC. “But she was with us the whole time.”
Rek told the outlet that his mother sought to test positive for COVID-19 so she’d have more freedom. In the Czech Republic, citizens are required to present either proof of vaccination or recent infection to be allowed access to many hospitality and entertainment venues.
According to Rek, Horka said she was feeling better on Sunday morning, and prepared to go for a walk. But when her back started hurting, she retreated to her bedroom, where “in about 10 minutes it was all over” and Horka “choked to death”.
As for her unvaccinated status, Rek said that although she willingly refused the vaccine, she did not do so with any conspiratorial motives. “Her philosophy was that she was more OK with the idea of catching [COVID-19] than getting vaccinated,” he said. “Not that we would get microchipped or anything like that.”
In making the news of his mother’s death public, Rek explained, he hoped to convince some of those skeptical of the vaccine to reconsider their priorities. “If you have living examples from real life, it’s more powerful than just graphs and numbers,” he said. “You can’t really sympathise with numbers.”
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Prior to her death, Horka was a member of Asonance, one of the oldest Czech folk groups currently active. Horka joined the collective as a vocalist in 1985, and appeared on more than a dozen releases between 1992 and 2019.