The terminally ill Robbie Hageman (30) had to leave the TV series Kamp van Koningsbrugge on Thursday. In the program civilians follow the heavy commando training. Hageman was criticized for his attitude to work, but with all due respect for the fight he is fighting against cancer. It made for an emotional moment.
In the episode that aired on thursday, was shown how the terminally ill Robbie falls asleep during an assignment at a night observation post.
The next day, his behavior is severely punished. “We need a team that shines like a diamond,” he is told. “But sometimes that doesn’t work and then you have to have the balls to get bad apples out. Because otherwise you’ll get in each other’s way, and then that team will never become a team.”
“This is not a game. We have seen that you have gone to sleep. As a result, your mates are being cornered,” said instructor Ray Klaassens from Helmond.
In addition, there are comments on his attitude to work. “You forget too much and have doubts about why we do things. That is not possible, that does not fit into the work.”
After those harsh words, Instructor Ray’s tone changes completely. He names the battle Hageman is waging against his illness. The kickboxer was told in 2019 that he has a malignant tumor in the back of the head. The brain tumor was largely removed, but there was still a piece in his head that could grow. At the beginning of February he went under the knife for this.
He did not tell the program makers that the tumor was growing again at the start of the recordings.
Instructor Ray: “Everyone knows your story and probably no one has ever been in a situation like that. These guys standing around here know what it’s like to fight a fight. But the fight you’re fighting, we don’t know. And that’s what it’s really about, of course.”
Ray continues: “And we can only say that we hope the very best for you and your family and your family. That we have a lot of respect for what you have shown. The situation you are in makes me think it is almost inhumane .”