Marleen Raaijmakers from Etten-Leur is angry, broken and powerless. A month ago, her father Edgar died suddenly of cardiac arrest in North Macedonia. He was on holiday there with her mother. His body would soon come to the Netherlands, but a month later Marleen and her family are still waiting for it. “My children hope to see Grandpa again. This is inhumane.”
Father Edgar (58) and mother Hedwig (63) left for North Macedonia last month for two weeks. They enjoyed a wonderful holiday, but on the last day disaster struck. Four hours before departure, while packing his suitcase, Edgar went into cardiac arrest. He literally fell dead in an open cupboard in the hotel room.
“That doctor probably thinks my mother is some kind of murderer.”
Hedwig heard the crash, ran out of the shower and saw her husband lying there. “He had a head wound and pieces of cupboard shelves were literally scattered across the room,” says Marleen. “She ran screaming into the hallway, where fortunately there were many Dutch people who came to help. A couple from Raamsdonk helped with resuscitation for 45 minutes, but it was already too late.”
Her mother had to make a police statement. Based on this, the police and the public prosecutor in Macedonia were immediately convinced that the death was natural. But now one of the doctors still demands an autopsy and refuses to sign for the transport of the remains to the Netherlands. “That’s because of the head wound,” says Marleen. “That doctor probably thinks my mother is some kind of murderer.”
“He was wrapped in the same dirty blankets as in the hotel four weeks ago.”
Last week, mother Hedwig was suddenly told that the autopsy would take place on Saturday. She and Marleen, as well as her husband, then flew to the capital Skopje at the last minute to see Edgar. “He was in a degrading condition,” she says. “In a dirty white van, without a coffin, wrapped in the same dirty fleece blankets and towels as in the hotel four weeks ago. His socks were not on properly and there were garbage bags in the corner.”
Hedwig has been calling for weeks now to get clarity about her husband’s body. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also aware, but according to Marleen the family is being sent from pillar to post. They have now been linked to a contact person from Nederland Wereld, a government aid organization for Dutch people abroad, but the family has not received any response there either.
“Nobody calls my mother to ask how she is doing or to wish her well,” says Marleen indignantly. “My father was a good citizen and so was my mother. How can we be so abandoned?”
“The eldest hopes that he can still see grandpa.”
Marleen has two children aged 3 and 11. “The eldest hopes that he can still see grandpa,” she says. “But after the autopsy, that chance is still very small. I’m not sure whether it is still presentable.” The only thing the family now hopes for is that Edgar’s body will be returned and that he will have a nice farewell service here. “It’s bizarre and surreal. We can’t close anything now. And that is very painful.”