After her son and his father contracted COVID-19, a popular Czech folk singer deliberately spent time around them to catch it herself. She was looking forward to trips to the theater.
However, Hanka Horká passed away Sunday at age 57, The Washington Post reported.
She was a member of the popular folk group Asonance.
“Some reports don't want to be believed,” said a translated note below Horká’s photo on the group website. “But we will have to.”
According to her family, Horká wanted to catch COVID-19 so she could get a Czech Republic recovery pass. This pass is issued to people who are either fully vaccinated or who have recovered from COVID-19 infection, said The Post. It is required to enter dining and leisure places in the country.
“I’ll tell you my secret, yes, I endured, and I survived … however, it was very colorful,” said Horká in a Facebook post two days before her death. “Life is here for me and for you too.”
She said she was looking forward to swimming and going to the sauna as well as the theater.
However, the Czech Republic, like the U.S. and other countries, is experiencing a COVID-19 surge due to the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus. According to The Post, the Czech health ministry reported a record 28,469 new cases on Wednesday and 63 percent of the country’s residents are fully vaccinated.
“She should have isolated for a week because we tested positive. But she was with us the whole time,” Horká’s son, Jan Rek – who is fully vaccinated along with his father – told the BBC.
Although she felt better Sunday, her back started hurting and she went to her room. She would die soon after.
“In about 10 minutes it was all over,” Rek said. “She choked to death.”
While Rek told the BBC his mother didn’t believe in conspiracy theories about coronavirus vaccines, he said she was more comfortable with the idea of catching COVID and recovering than getting shots. He hopes that her story may inspire others to get vaccinated.
“If you have living examples from real life, it’s more powerful than just graphs and numbers,” said Rek.
According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in October, COVID-19 vaccines provide better protection against COVID-19 than previous infection with the virus.
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