The sudden death of a 15-year-old girl during the Leiden half marathon came as a blow to her hometown of Oegstgeest. The teenager collapsed just before the finish on Sunday. Her employer and eyewitnesses are dismayed. “Her death touches us deeply and leaves us speechless.”
The victim worked at Villa Beukenhof, a well-known catering and event location in her hometown. In an online statement, to which thousands of people have now responded, the team said it was ‘in disbelief and extremely defeated’ after receiving the ‘bizarre and sad message’.
They describe the teenager as a ‘beloved colleague and a warm, committed and special person’. ‘We will remember her for who she was, a great person and the beautiful impression she left on many,’ writes her employer, who also speaks of an ‘unbelievably difficult time’.
‘Twice as heavy’
The girl collapsed on Sunday around noon at the intersection of the Herensingel with the Lage Rijndijk, about four kilometers before the finish line. Dirk Norder witnessed the tragedy. He writes under the message from Villa Beukenhof that he held up a cloth so that the emergency services could do their work quietly.
‘I hoped she would rise again, or at least give some sign of life. Didn’t know her, and knew until now that she was a young girl, who unfortunately did not survive,” said Norder. Now that he knows who she was and what her approach to life was like through her employer, the blow is ‘doubly hard’ for him. ‘I cried a lot, and it hurts me a lot, it affects me too.’
Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje was at the start of the 10km when he heard that something had happened. “We didn’t know at the time that it turned out so terribly, and certainly not that this happened to such a young girl,” writes the son of Princess Margriet and Pieter van Vollenhoven under the message from the employer.
No ID check
Despite the rapid deployment of emergency services and a landed trauma helicopter, the teenager died on the spot. Because this is a medical emergency, the police are not conducting any further investigation. It was not due to the weather conditions on Sunday: it was about 15 degrees.
Her participation raises the question of how she was able to start the 21.1 kilometer race in the first place. The minimum age for the Leiden half marathon is officially 16 years old. The Athletics Union even advises 15-year-olds to run a maximum of 10 kilometers in competitions, due to the risk of physical complaints.
Not strictly controlled
Organizer Tjeerd Scheffer announced on Sunday that in practice there are no strict age checks. “Our system is based on the age that participants themselves indicate.”
After the girl’s death, the start of the 10 kilometers and the Kids Run were canceled immediately. Both the organization and Leiden mayor Peter Heijkoop reacted with shock.
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