It looked very bad at the beginning of August for former Telstar player Donny van Iperen (27). After a collision on the football field, he fell into a coma and suffered brain damage. People feared for his life, but the footballer from Sint Pancras is now working hard on his recovery. “I’m not there yet, but we’re on the right track,” said Van Iperen.
After his adventure at Telstar, Van Iperen moved to FC Zimbru in Moldavia. In just his second game, things go horribly wrong for the defender. “We thought we would be given the choice between pulling the plug or possibly opting for a life as a greenhouse plant,” says sister Kiky about the first days in Moldova.
Van Iperen was hospitalized in Moldova for the first few days. He was then flown to the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. There he spoke his first words and took his first steps. In recent months he continued to work on his recovery at Heliomare in Wijk aan Zee.
“Here he has mainly progressed in the physical area. He comes from a very high level. He is now doing much better than how he was in Moldova. It is just not fast enough for him,” says physiotherapist Amy Rozemeijer.
Special treatment
His last day in Heliomare is now over. Last Friday he boarded a plane to America. There he undergoes special treatment. “They make an active MRI there and then they see which brain cells are still behind it. A package is put together based on that,” says Kiky van Iperen.
NH Sport followed the former Telstar footballer during his last days in Heliomare and made the above report.