Jack Dekkers doesn’t have long. The 67-year-old Tilburger has lung cancer and suffers every day, also mentally. In six weeks he will take his own life by euthanasia. He will be celebrating his farewell party this weekend. Saturday morning one of his last wishes came true. As a fan of the Brabants Buske of Omroep Brabant, he really wanted to get behind the wheel of this special car.
Jack immediately gets in when he sees Buske. “Gas it up”, laughs the Buske fan. “This is fine. I feel comfortable here. And should I do something? I thought, this van will start driving automatically.”
Jack himself invited the Brabant Buske of Omroep Brabant. He’s having a party tonight, and everyone is welcome. A party tent is set up and of course there is also music, because Jack is also a DJ in addition to being a singer. And that DJ is ready for it.
Jack already gives a preview. He sings and laughs while the residents host and dance. Just the way Jack likes it.
My daughter passed away from lung cancer five years ago.
But just before that, Jack was sitting quietly outside at the table with his neighbours, as he often does, just before the Amarant housing facility on Bilderbergstraat. He’s been down that street all his life. A life that ends in a month and a half.
“I’ve been through a lot,” begins Jack, who has a disability and therefore stays in the facility. “Seven months ago I was suddenly told that I had lung cancer. Then I immediately said to the hospital: let me go.”
Jack is in a lot of pain. “I sweat constantly. I can’t sleep. If I go to bed at ten o’clock, I’ll be drinking coffee again at a quarter past one in the morning. This is not life. I can’t keep it up.”
But for Jack, euthanasia is more than the end of the pain. It is also a reunion with his daughter in heaven. “Five years ago my daughter died of lung cancer. My wife went first. And now it’s my turn. Let me go to my daughter.”
Jack bursts into tears. “I talk to her every morning. She is everything to me. That child. It’s finished. I can not anymore.”
“We’ll make it a great party.”
Jack’s life changed after he made the choice for euthanasia, he explains. “I feel happier. Otherwise I wouldn’t throw a big party either. And everyone is welcome. People here should be able to enjoy themselves. The clients here are having a hard time.”
Jack refers to the clients of Amarant in Tilburg with whom he lives. Jack has played assistant Sinterklaas for four years, among other things, he says in the presence of his loyal Pieten and neighbours. It is clear: he will miss everyone very much.
Jack arranged everything himself. Not only the party, also the end. “I want to be laid out at home so that everyone here can still see me. I have already arranged the prayer cards and tonight people can donate cash to the KWF. Everything is ready.”
“After that fair it’s over.”
His beloved grandson will be there tonight to Jack’s delight. His sister, who already lives in the residential facility, is also coming to celebrate. And then, after years of pain, the end is near for Jack. But not for one last outing.
“I still want to go to the fair with the residents. Especially for the fair, I waited with the euthanasia. And after that fair it’s over. Finished. Then they can come and get me.”
The report about Jack can be seen on Saturday from 5:45 p.m. in Buske in Brabant on Omroep Brabant television and online.
