Photographer Corné Sparidaens from Groningen has won the Silver Camera in the Regional News category with his photo report on heart patient Daan (2) who underwent surgery at the UMCG.
Kees van de Veen from Haren won in the Interior category with a photo of the tent camp in Ter Apel.
,,I am really very happy,” says Sparidaens. ,,And I also think it’s good that this is once again drawing attention to heart surgery at the UMCG. I don’t want to pass judgment on which hospital it should be, but I have seen that real craftsmanship was delivered here.”
Sparidaens followed 2-year-old Daan and his parents in the process before, during and after the hours-long operation in which the boy received a donor heart valve.
Outrage over disappearing heart surgery
The photographer wanted to make the photo report in response to the commotion about the disappearance of pediatric heart surgery at the UMCG. “Is it really that bad?” I wondered. I had no idea, because I didn’t know what pediatric heart surgery was all about. I don’t think many other inhabitants of the Northern Netherlands do either. That is why I wanted to see it with my own eyes and record it.”
Sparidaens received full cooperation from Daan’s parents, doctors and other hospital staff. “You can only do something like that if you click with each other,” said one of the doctors. “That is absolutely the case with Corné. He is a very sweet man, who understands that he is witnessing something very vulnerable.”
Kees van de Veen won in the Interior category with the photo below: