The fact that a young woman was found in her house only two days after her death leads to questions in Beverwijk. Mariska Appel (30) probably died of a cardiac arrest last Thursday. Her son Jordan (4) was alone for two days and was found in shock by family on Saturday near his mother’s body.
Local residents are impressed by the death of young mother Mariska and that little Jordan was alone for two days. A man who is weeding his garden says about the latter: “It doesn’t surprise me. People no longer look after each other.”
The Boeweg partly abuts the Aagtendorp. That neighborhood is known as a close-knit community where people still know each other. “But the Aagtendorp is no longer the Aagtendorp of the seventies and eighties of the last century”, Ans van den Elzen nuances.
Regular contact
“There is still a hard core here of at least about thirty percent who have lived here for a long time,” says ‘the neighborhood mother’ of the former workers’ district. “But it has also partly become a through-flow neighbourhood. Many people leave quickly.”
That was not the case for Mariska. She had been living with her son on the Boeweg for a while and it didn’t look like she intended to move. Ans: “I think she had a good time here. We had regular contact. Just last week when she came to get a window poster with an announcement of the flea market on Sunday. She was really looking forward to that.”
More than 15,000 euros for funeral Mariska
To be able to pay for her funeral, Mariska’s sister Sahrona is on gofundme.com started a digital fundraiser. There is already more than 15,000 euros on the counter. Much more than had been hoped for. Sahrona wants to put part of the money into a cargo bike to take Mariksa’s son Jordan to school and to furnish his new bedroom. Jordan goes to live with Sahrona. Ans van den Elzen is using next Sunday’s flea market in the Aagtendorp to collect some extra money. “I just put out a box where people can donate and leave a wish. That’s the least I can do.”
Ans understands that people wonder why nobody discovered Mariska’s death before. Although the cohesion in the Aagtendorp is less than in the past, she finds it too easy to put forward this as the cause. “Not everyone comes together every day. I myself have contact several times a day with my daughter just down the road. But not everyone has that.”
“I’m also on Facebook,” she continues. “Mariska was also a member, but sometimes she suddenly disappeared. Then you lost control. An uncle of hers lives just around the corner. They spoke sometimes, but not every day. In short, it can happen, despite that someone lives in the Aagtendorp.”
“The Aagtendorp is really a working-class neighbourhood, but you see: it happens”
Hans Bruin of the Beverwijk Social Team is impressed by the events. “Terrible when you hear this. What we as a social team always hope is that people will look after each other a bit. So that you ring the bell if you have not seen your neighbor for a while. The Aagtendorp is really a working-class neighbourhood, but you see: it happens.”