1. FC Köln: mourning after the death of little FC fan Mattes († 14)

von Jürgen Kemper (chem) Béla Csányi (bc)

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1. FC Köln wants to win this derby for Mattes († 14)! For months, the ardent FC fan fought against his leukemia disease, the day before the duel at Rhineland rival Borussia Mönchengladbach, there was now the sad certainty: the little fighter didn’t make it.

“Tonight, ‘our’ Mattes fell asleep peacefully surrounded by his family,” read the heartbreaking message on Good Friday (April 15, 2022) on the Instagram page “Mattes, fight and win”. She had accompanied the boy’s ordeal since the end of last year and drummed for a suitable bone marrow donor.

FC fan Mattes hoped in vain for a bone marrow donation

Nine months lay between the devastating diagnosis and the bitter end of the desperate struggle. During this time, Mattes also had to undergo chemotherapy, which, however, did not work as well as desired. There were even several candidates for the matching bone marrow donors that were so urgently needed for healing. But because the therapy did not bring the necessary improvement, the transplantation had to be postponed.

New hope kept germinating, but the initial euphoria was always followed by new disillusionment. “We’re pulling out all the stops,” assured Janet Mulappancharil from DKMS Cologne at the end of December. In the end, even a donor and his possible replacement were found, but despite high-dose chemotherapy, it became apparent that they would no longer be able to save Mattes with their stem cells.

FC and Cologne celebrities were at Mattes’ side

EXPRESS.de had reported about Mattes’ fate at the end of December, at that time his family and friends were hoping for a happy ending. In the meantime, a fundraiser for the bereaved is already underway after many people offered their help.

The list of supporters was long, the fire brigade at Cologne/Bonn Airport and Fortuna Cologne showed solidarity, as did Lukas Podolski (36) and pop star Mickie Krause (51), who encouraged Mattes with video messages.

This also included the rapper Mo Torres (32), one of Mattes’ great role models. The boy loved the music of the Cologne musician, who thought of his little fan on Instagram on Friday. “Rest in peace you strong man! Nobody was as brave and powerful as you, Mattes!” wrote the musician: “You are a role model! Thank you for letting us accompany you and get to know you.”

FC, for whom Mattes’ heart beat, also left no stone unturned. Many professionals and coaches Steffen Baumgart (50) posed with a “Mattes, fight and win” banner, the Ultras only remembered last week in the 3-2 win against Mainz with the large poster of the passionate fan who is aware of the strong performance of his club in the current brought so much joy to the season.