Two weeks ago, the seriously ill Ben van Nies crossed the finish line of the Verbeeten Challenge in Tilburg himself. Last Thursday, the Terheijdenaar passed away in the presence of his family. “We had to let go of our dad. But he will be in our hearts forever,” says his daughter Nicole.
At all costs, 66-year-old Ben would cross the finish line of the Verbeeten Challenge himself. “This is the last thing I do,” said the Terheijdenaar on April 2, just before his departure for Tilburg. “I do a part in the wheelchair, but I do the last meters myself.”
Later that day, supported by his children, he walked the last meters to the finish of the Verbeeten Challenge. To the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s My Way he was welcomed with continuous applause. Ben did it his way.
The family looks back with a very nice feeling on that day when they crossed the finish line with him, says his daughter Nicole. “It has been a day with a thick golden edge. Our dad really enjoyed it immensely. He thought it was great that he came on television and that he received so much attention. Every time we spoke to him about that day, a smile on his face.”
That Sunday with the Verbeeten Challenge was intensive for Ben, according to Nicole he gave everything. “The following Monday he got out of bed as if nothing had happened. But for the next three days he did nothing but sleep.”
Ben and his family had a very nice Easter weekend. “But it went fast from Tuesday after Easter. On Thursday he decided that it would stop there.”
Ben van Nies died of liver cancer. In 2020, pancreatic cancer was discovered in him. Two years later, he thought he was cancer-free. But sadly, spots were found on his liver over the course of 2022.
The funeral will take place in Breda on Thursday. Ben van Nies turned 66 years old.
