He has a song for which a video clip was made, called Czka ek hörs, and it draws attention to the importance of donating blood. I think that Kátya fought her illness like a hero.
Robert Hrutka: The way he went through his illness, humble, withdrawn, hopeful even in his last days, yes, he was a hero. His doctor friend was by his side the whole time, always explaining what the next step was, what to prepare for. He always found the next treatments. But I think that Kátya, deep in her heart, is prepared for the fact that one day it might end. That’s probably why he got baptized.
In 2018, I met Katya at the Oncology Institute, she came opposite me. I was happy for him, but he lowered his head, indicating that he didn’t even want to say hello… Of course, I respected his signal.
H. R.: He didn’t really talk about his illness with anyone, not even close friends. When he was in the hospital in 2018, I took him home. He told us to go into the chapel in the courtyard of the institute. He lit all the candles and prayed, even though he didn’t know how big the trouble was.
On November 23, Törőcsik Mari Kossuth award-winning actress, Actor of the Nation and Artist of the Nation paid tribute to the artist with a gala at the National Theater on her 80th birthday (Photo: Olajos Piroska/fotocentral.hu)
You are a person of faith, what do you think about passing away?
H. R.: I buried my father one month before Katya’s death. Yes, I went from being a believer, but a God-fearing person. I used to question him, but the person I was then has now fallen on my knees at the altar of humility. I know what it means to pray for a family member when we feel that only a miracle can help here. We did, and the miracle really did happen. Since then, I’ve been trying to give thanks every day – in my songs, with the way I live, the way I think – that this happened to us. Anyway, I believe that a few good voices can change the world, because music is just like life. We write it, play it, and nothing is left but the song. It doesn’t matter what we leave behind here. If we can do something that brings us a little closer to each other, regardless of who’s religion or what they think about politics, then we’ve done something for a good cause. Many people stood up for Kátya’s recovery, we pushed her together, I believe that the love that flowed towards her had a healing power. He became the bridge between man and man, where everyone felt that they could save not only him, but also a piece of themselves. The piece that can fight for a common cause, can show its love, can make miracles come true. Unfortunately, time defeated us with Katya, but every minute and hour that happened to her was worth it.
When he left, you wrote this on your social media page: the silence has never been so loud!
H. R.: When he left, something of me was lost. In this silence, it may be easier to find ourselves again, or to find what we think is lost. With her death, Kátya took with her something that was full of energy, smiles, and music, which we can’t see, only feel, because it embraces us and surrounds us unnoticed.
Photo: Archive
Katya was aloof, and so are you.
H. R.: I can only dissolve on stage, as he does. I got sick a lot when I was a child. Due to an illness, I lost my hearing, so both ears had to be operated on, and I couldn’t speak properly until I was six and a half years old. The doctor said my hearing will not get better, at best I will not be a musician. Yet I became one. I was at my grandmother’s a lot and she had an old fake concert grand piano. I sat next to him and tried to make up my own songs. At that time, I felt that a secret door was opening where, if I entered, I too could turn into voices, and that was enough for happiness. That’s when the world around me stopped and I could be myself. I also realized that the destination is not important, but the journey itself. And on this journey, I owe nothing but gratitude to my wife, with whom we have known each other since high school. I proposed to her as a teenager in high school. Then he left me with a wooden picture and didn’t speak to me for a year. She thought I was not normal, but in the end she became my wife. Because of him, I could become the person I dreamed of as a child. I could count on him in all my important decisions. There was a time when I was working day and night, then I realized that I had to get my time back from myself, if you like, buy it back. Before, I thought I had unlimited time. Then, when I felt that my health might take a hit, and the bar vibrated, I began to regret all the time that I could not spend before with those who are most important to me. Katya’s death made me realize that we have very little time here on earth. And what you have, you have to manage it in such a way that when the film ends, there is a reason to watch it.
Featured image: Csaba Schumy/fotocentral.hu
