On Monday evening, between sixty and seventy supporters gathered at Overeem’s house with torches in tribute. Graffiti has been applied near the Johan Cruijff Arena with the text: ‘RIP Paddy – Ultra’s Forever.’ And banners with his nickname appeared from the F-side.
Overeem was known as a friendly man, always up for a chat. He died on Sunday when the boat he was on collided with a large inland vessel near the Afrikahaven. Overeem and the other person on board, a 24-year-old man from Haarlem, went missing. Their bodies were recovered from the water earlier this week. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
‘They wake up with it and go to bed with it’
The news has not escaped the attention of many residents of IJmuiden. Not only friends and family mourn, many villagers also sympathize with the relatives. Hundreds of condolences are pouring in on social media under reports of his death and flags are flying at half-mast in several places in IJmuiden.
Dutch flags with ‘RIP Patrick’ and ‘RIP Paddy’ hang on the viaduct at Pontplein in IJmuiden.
“It has a huge impact,” says a woman in IJmuiden. “I hear it all around me, people are devastated. I live on the lock, then you realize how dangerous the work of those men is. I don’t know him personally, but when I talk about it, I feel full again.”