Hall speaker has to go after saying about cancer patients

Handball Olympic champion

Hall speaker has to go after saying about cancer patients

Handball player Camilla Herrem is fighting cancer, but is already back on the field. But during a game she had to listen to an unpleasant comment.

Camilla Herrem has been able to play handball again since the beginning of September. The two-time Olympic champion from Norway was diagnosed with breast cancer in the summer and began chemotherapy shortly afterwards. She finished therapy in late summer and was then given the green light by doctors to return to the plate.

Herrem plays for Sola HK, the club for which she also played her first games. The 39-year-old and Sola were recently guests at Gjerpen HK Skien. On site, Herrem received a bouquet of flowers as an award for her fight. Hall spokesman Tom Gulliksen described her as a “great role model”, but then allowed himself to be carried away with a momentous statement. “The hairstyle doesn’t even need to be blow-dried,” he said, according to Norwegian media reports.

Herrem lost all his hair during chemotherapy and is currently almost bald. Gulliksen received a lot of backlash for the comment. The hall announcer apologized and explained that he was “very, very sad” about his statement. Steffen Stegavik, coach and husband of Camilla Herrem, accepted the apology on behalf of the club and said in an interview with TV 2: “That was a very unfortunate comment. We discussed it with Gjerpen in the evening, they took care of it and apologized. The matter has been put to rest for us.”

Gjerpen decided to relieve the hall announcer of his duties. There is no financial loss for Gulliksen; he did the work voluntarily. When asked by the TV station NRK, the ex-hall spokesman said: “I will not comment further on this, but I have taken note of the matter and regret that it has come to this.”