Do not participate in the Alpe d’HuZes in June, but euthanasia. Wicher Mars (56) from Tilburg is waiting for that fate. The incurably ill cancer patient will receive euthanasia this month. He wants to discuss death in a light -hearted way. “Can I already test?” Wicher asked the funeral director.
“You don’t have to have a voice prosthesis to get out of your neck.” With a smile, Wicher shows a Delft blue tile, referring to his voice prosthesis or ‘cap in my neck’, as he calls it. With carnival he even put a party horn on the prosthesis. Exemplary for how he is.
He absolutely does not look sick, but appearances are deceiving. The Tilburger was diagnosed with metastatic larynx cancer in 2021. He received a major operation in which, among other things, his larynx and vocal cords were removed. He now talks and breathes through a ‘button’ in his neck.
Inhuman
It seemed to go well. Yet he received bad news again in 2023. This time colon cancer with metastases in the peritoneum. He is getting worse and worse. “I don’t want to get sick without the chance that I get better. You even have the chance that your excrement will vomit. That is inhumane. I don’t want to suffer.”
Wicher leaves a woman and two daughters behind. “I will put my head down later, but for them it is very emotional. They have to continue.” By staying light, he wants to make it easier for them and himself.
Comfortable
“It’s pretty easy now that euthanasia is coming.” He lived there for years. “Death also brings very nice things,” says Wicher, who emphasizes that it absolutely does not want to weaken. “Unprecedented what is happening now. I get letters, apps, flowers, cards and dinners. I have the best moment with the people we love.”
The family gave a huge party in November. “Everyone came in with lead in their shoes. Afterwards it was a party!” He cherishes a beautiful photo album with his family big on the front.
Alpe d’HuZes
Wicher twice walked on the mythical French mountain Alpe d’Huez. He raised as much money as possible for cancer control. He was already registered for the 2025 edition. “I am not going to get that anymore,” says Wicher. His family now goes up the mountain for him as a team Over my body. “That’s out of art! Great! I’m really proud,” he says with pride.
Euthanasia will take place on 17 February. The farewell video for his funeral is already ready. With this interview he hopes to inspire others to discuss death. After the interview, he has to rest again all day.
He has advice for everyone: look especially at what you do have and not at what you don’t have. “I’m in bed for whole days now. Play the day! Later has already begun. Do it now!”
About Alpe d’HuZes
Alpe d’HuZes is an annual event where as much money as possible is collected for research into cancer and to improve the quality of life of people with cancer.
On the first Thursday of June, about five thousand participants climb cycling, running or walking the Alpe d’Huez, a mountain in the French Alps. The road to the top has 21 turns and is 14.5 kilometers long. Cyclists go up a maximum of six times and walkers a maximum of three times.