“It is extremely sad that his dream has been taken away from him in this way,” says Milco de Vries of the Wens Ambulance Noord-Holland Foundation. “We think it is dramatic that this evening ended this way.”
De Vries says that it concerns a man of around seventy from the Kop van Noord-Holland. Due to his health, he cannot speak to NH News himself. Thanks to the foundation, which helps terminal patients fulfill their last wishes, he was able to go to the Arena yesterday.
He was taken by ambulance on a stretcher to Amsterdam, where he wanted to cheer on his club one last time from the stands for the disabled. But what should have been an emotional evening turned into disappointment after just five minutes.
Supporters of the hard core set off so many large fireworks that the Arena filled with a sea of red smoke. The players from Ajax and FC Groningen were on the field for a total of six minutes before the match was finally stopped. “We think it is dramatic that this evening ended this way,” says De Vries.
‘Won’t make it to the next match’
The terminal man, who has been a fan of Ajax all his life, had submitted the request to Stichting Wens Ambulance Noord-Holland for about eight days. Due to his poor health, it was exciting beforehand whether he would make it to the match, according to De Vries. “It just went well, so everyone was very happy for him.”
His health is so weak that he will not make it to Ajax’s next regular home match, says De Vries.
Volunteers from Stichting Wens Ambulance Noord-Holland are now busy calling whether the man can come to the Arena next Tuesday, when the match against FC Groningen is played.
That match will officially be played without an audience, so the municipality of Amsterdam must first give permission for this. De Vries cannot yet say whether that will work.