70-year-old Serbian hermit came out to people to get vaccinated

In the south of Serbia, a 70-year-old hermit lives in a tiny cave in the mountains. For a long time, he did not know anything about the Covid-19 pandemic, since he rarely visited the city next door. But when he found out, he did not hesitate to go for vaccination.

Once Panta Petrovich worked as a mechanic on a cargo ship. 15 years ago, he quit his job and built himself a tree house in the rural wilderness – 350 km from Belgrade. Now Petrovich lives in a tiny cave in the mountains, which can only be reached by a very steep climb.

After learning the news about the pandemic, he was vaccinated and called on all opponents of vaccination to follow his example. But this person has chosen social distancing as his way of life…

And he added that he does not understand the noise created by skeptics and "anti-vaxxers", and also believes in the process aimed at eradicating diseases.

Until the 1990s, Panta Petrovich worked in France as a mechanical engineer on foreign cargo ships, but after 18 years abroad, he decided to return home to Serbia. He was married several times, and he called this life "restless".

At that time, life was not just restless – it became very difficult when the war broke out. He decided to leave his family home in Pirot and move to the suburbs, but instead of settling in an ordinary house, he built a tree house 8 meters above the ground.

And today he lives in a cave, which he also chose for a long time and arranged according to his desire. It has an old rusty bathtub that he uses as a toilet, several benches and a haystack as a bed.

He says that he has always loved nature, and gradually discovered that isolation from society brings him such freedom as he had never experienced before.

Panta Petrovich feeds mainly on mushrooms and fish from the local stream, but also makes hiking trips to the center in search of leftover food in garbage cans. And recently, his visits to the city have become more regular.

Actually, he does not live alone – he has several goats, a flock of chickens, about thirty dogs and cats. And the main favorite is an adult wild boar named Mara.

After the wolves picked up some of his animals, which he kept near the cave, Petrovich decided to move them to a hut on the outskirts of the city, where they are not in danger.

Mara Petrovich found eight years ago a helpless piglet, entangled in the bushes, and fed her from a bottle until she recovered. Now this huge carcass weighing 200 kg is playfully rolling along the stream and eating apples from the hands of the owner.

He is helped to survive by an allowance from the state, as well as donations from caring people for food and supplies for animals.

Before becoming a hermit, Panta Petrovich gave the community all the money he earned abroad for the construction of three small bridges in the city.

At the top of one of the bridges, Petrovich built a dovecote, which, despite his advanced age, he easily climbs to feed the birds.

Yes, he even has a dovecote. Life was a success.