Anti-vaxxer kickboxing champion who refused to acknowledge he had Covid and discharged himself dies

An anti-vaxx kickboxing champion who was known as The Undertaker has died aged 41 after denying he had Covid-19 and discharging himself from hospital to treat ‘the little virus’ with oxygen. 

Frederic Sinistra died of complications relating to the virus in Ciney, Belgium, weeks after discharging himself from a hospital in Liege and telling followers he would treat his symptoms from home. 

The three-time world champion was admitted to hospital in late November after being forced to seek medical help by his coach and posted pictures of himself lying in bed in an intensive care ward with an oxygen tube in his nose. 

Sinistra also posted a video on Facebook in which he appeared to be struggling to breathe and wrote in an accompanying caption that he had ‘no time to waste with lazy people’.

He railed against government restrictions to contain Covid-19, dismissed the virus and said the ‘little virus’ would not stop him in social media posts while in hospital.  

Sinistra was active online until December 13 but he died after going into cardiac arrest on December 15. His partner announced his passing the next day.  

Kickboxing champion Fred Sinistra has died aged 41 after denying he had Covid-19 and discharging himself from hospital to treat ‘the little virus’ with oxygen

Fred Sinistra (right) died of complications relating to the virus in Ciney, Belgium, weeks after discharging himself from a hospital in Liege and telling followers he would treat his symptoms from home

Fred Sinistra (right) died of complications relating to the virus in Ciney, Belgium, weeks after discharging himself from a hospital in Liege and telling followers he would treat his symptoms from home

On November 26, Sinistra announced a fight planned for December 4  had been cancelled, but said he was ‘disgusted’ to have called the event off. 

‘A warrior never abdicates, I will come back even stronger,’ Sinistra wrote. 

Days later on November, the former champion boxer posted: ‘I was born premature and I will continue to fight to the death like a man without ever giving up and dying without regrets’.  

On December 13, three days before his death was announced, Sinistra responded to comments on his Facebook page. 

‘Thank you for all your support. I’m home recovering, as I should. I will come back a thousand times stronger,’ he wrote.  

Sinistra was admitted to hospital in late November after being forced to seek medical attention for his Covid-19 symptoms by his coach Osman Yigin. 

Speaking to Belgian outlet SudInfo, Yigin said he told Sinistra to take himself to hospital and threatened to refuse to train the former world champion in the future if he refused to do so. 

During his career, Sinistra won several heavyweight world and European kickboxing titles, and claimed a national title in Belgium in 2004. He had a career record of 39 wins and nine losses and has been branded Belgium’s ‘strongest man’.  

On November 26, while in an intensive care unit, Sinistra announced a fight planned for December 4 had been cancelled, but said he was 'disgusted' to have called the event off

On November 26, while in an intensive care unit, Sinistra announced a fight planned for December 4 had been cancelled, but said he was ‘disgusted’ to have called the event off

Sinistra was active online until December 13 and his partner announced his death on December 16, though it was not clear exactly when he died

Sinistra was active online until December 13 and his partner announced his death on December 16, though it was not clear exactly when he died

Like many Covid-19 sceptics, Sinistra believed his youth and fitness would act as protection against the virus.

In a series of social media posts, the former champion boxer had repeatedly called the virus ‘la grippe des cheveux’, literally meaning ‘the hair flu’, and blasted mask mandates and vaccine passes. 

While in hospital, he posted: ‘I was born premature and I will continue to fight to the death like a man without ever giving up and dying without regrets.’   

His former coach Fabian Pavone paid tribute, describing the kickboxer as a ‘force of nature with a heart of gold’ whose death could have been avoided.   

Meanwhile his friend Jordan Sferrazza said: ‘He was a golden guy. I will never forget him. He was the strongest in Belgium in the heavyweight category.’    

The kickboxing champion was admitted to hospital in late November after being forced to seek medical help by his coach and posted pictures of himself lying in bed in an intensive care ward with an oxygen tube in his nose

The kickboxing champion was admitted to hospital in late November after being forced to seek medical help by his coach and posted pictures of himself lying in bed in an intensive care ward with an oxygen tube in his nose

Sinistra was admitted to hospital in late November after being forced to seek medical attention for his Covid-19 symptoms by his coach Osman Yigin

Sinistra was admitted to hospital in late November after being forced to seek medical attention for his Covid-19 symptoms by his coach Osman Yigin

Almost 90 per cent of the Belgian population have had two doses of the vaccine.

But the Belgian government has recently introduced new measures following an outbreak of the Omicron variant, which is rapidly transmissible. 

Under the current restrictions, indoor public activities are strictly limited, shopping is curtailed and sports fans are not be allowed into stadiums and indoor venues. 

The Belgian government shied away, however, from a full lockdown like that imposed in the neighbouring Netherlands for the holiday season. 

The Belgian measures come despite a steady decline in Covid-19 hospital admissions in recent weeks. 

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