Belgian first division club Cercle Brugge mourns the loss of goalkeeper Miguel Van Damme. The keeper died aged just 28 after a year-long battle with leukemia, his club said.
“Words are not enough to describe how we feel, even though we knew things weren’t going well for a while,” the club’s statement said.
Van Damme started in the Belgian first division in 2014 but played fewer than 50 games as his career was cut short by illness. In 2016 he was diagnosed with leukemia. He recovered but relapsed and announced in September 2020 that the treatments were no longer effective.
“Miguel, your perseverance and your strength to keep trying, setback after setback, was admirable. You are an example of positivism, perseverance and fighting spirit. A source of inspiration for anyone who fights,” said his club.
Van Damme leaves behind his wife and daughter. The club’s players and staff commemorated the goalkeeper with a minute’s silence on Tuesday morning, according to Belgian media.