Jan Zuurd (76), known as former weather man of RTV Drenthe, is gradually being demolished by Parkinson’s disease. What he can do and what no longer succeeds, he wrote down in a book: Parkinson & I.
The Parkinson’s diagnosis was diagnosed in Zord in 2017. “But I think I had it two years earlier,” says Zuurd in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata. Despite the neurological disease and the associated complaints, he tapped the book himself behind his computer. “It took difficulty, because my body no longer works that way.”
Zuurd has already written several books, especially of a historical nature. But this time it is all about a completely different topic because of the daily reality. “I write more books and people may know what Parkinson’s does to you.” In the book, the brand new Assenaar gives the peeling of a mandarin as an example. “It takes about twenty minutes.”
The impact on the family of Zuurd is great. “Especially for my mother it is drastic. She has to deal with it all day. That is tough,” says daughter Hilde. “She has to help him a lot. He regularly falls and certain things like tying laces, he is no longer able to.” Recently she has noticed that her father is rapidly deteriorating. “Walking is very difficult and also talking.”
Zuurd itself finds the situation ‘particularly difficult’. “I like to roll up my sleeves. But I try to keep moving.” He does this twice a week at the day care. “Waving a little bit with the arms, doing exercises and some music on it. That’s nice though.”
The book about Parkinson’s is probably his last work according to Zuurd. “I am afraid of it, it doesn’t really work anymore. My fingers no longer do what I want. And I have to recover for a long time, that will get a bit boring in the long run.”