Unvaccinated singer dies after deliberately catching Covid
The son of a well-known Czech singer who died after catching Covid has spoken out, warning others not to follow his mother’s example.
Hana Horka, 57, was a member of Czech folk band Asonance, and had refused to get vaccinated against the virus. After her husband and son, Jan Rek, who are both vaccinated, contracted COVID-19 around Christmas, she refused to isolate from them, instead opting to deliberately contract the virus in order to obtain a Czech health pass, which allows access to public venues for those who can provide proof of vaccination or recent recovery from the virus. Venues such as cinemas, restaurants and bars are currently off-limits to the unvaccinated.
Mr Rek told the BBC his mother died suddenly on Sunday after she had seemingly been on the mend. He said, “She should have isolated for a week because we tested positive. But she was with us the whole time. In about 10 minutes it was all over … She choked to death.
“Her philosophy was that she was more OK with the idea of catching Covid than getting vaccinated.”
He said that his mother would not listen to family members who tried to persuade her to get the vaccine, and said that he wanted to share his family’s story in an effort to convince others to take Covid seriously, saying, “If you have living examples from real life, it’s more powerful than just graphs and numbers. You can’t really sympathise with numbers.”
He added that anti-vaxxers had “blood on their hands”, saying, “I know exactly who influenced her … It makes me sad that she believed strangers more than her proper family.
“It wasn’t just total disinformation but also views on natural immunity and antibodies acquired through infection.”
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