LILLEHAMMER / OSLO (Dagbladet): In the summer of 2019, former world record holder Bjørn Einar Romøren received the nightmare message. He had contracted the disease Ewing Sarcoma. A severe cancer of the bone.
Then a very hard cell cure awaited. This spring he was declared cancer-free, and on Tuesday Romøren was back in the jumping community during a gathering in Lysgårdsbakkene in Lillehammer.
– It was really nice to come up here and it is nice to meet old friends and those I work with. I have barely been able to say hello to half of them, says a gentle Romøren to Dagbladet.
– Extremely fun
In his own words, the 39-year-old is only on “loan” during the gathering in Lillehammer. Because at the same time as he was fighting for his life against cancer, the former big jumper became a father. Now Romøren has only a short month left of the cardboard folder.
– It is true that we have the world’s best cardboard binder system in Norway, but it is not the case that you can continue cardboard binder indefinitely, unfortunately. It may be that my boss thought it had been done a little awkwardly, says Romøren who is excited before he will start working as marketing manager in the ski association again.
– I feel that I both dread and look forward to it. It will be extremely fun and I hope the shape and color are good enough to put it that way that I can handle it in a good way.
And in the jumping environment, they are very much looking forward to having Romøren back in the environment.
– It is extremely important to have him back. It is important for him of course to stand here and have won this match, says national team coach for men Alexander Stöckl to Dagbladet and adds:
– It is extremely important for us to have him back as a person and as a workforce that has meant a lot to the sport of jumping in recent years in terms of the marketing work he has done.
Auctioned off the record skis
Just over a year after receiving the cancer diagnosis, the form is constantly improving. Now Romøren says that he feels good again.
– I feel that the energy is there and then I still get tired, but I would have been without chemotherapy as well. I would have been without having been through chemotherapy, yes. I have heard that there are parents of young children who are tired at night. I’m not unique, he says in a silly tone.
But the chemotherapy regimen has at times been tough, Romøren admits to NRK who first mentioned the comeback:
– The last year has been educational. And it’s been crap. But as long as I stand here today, feel healthy and have a good system around me that I have not managed to destroy during the illness, I am extremely grateful, says Romøren to NRK.
On Tuesday, Romøren auctioned off the skis he set the legendary world record of 239 meters in 2005 for income for the children and youth ward at Lillehammer hospital.
– Being through being sick is hard. To help the children in the children and youth department in Lillehammer to get a little better, I appreciate, said a weeping Romøren during the auction.
The jumping girls eventually won the auction and gave the skis to the children’s department.
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