He has sustained the injuries the brutal robbery at his jewelry store last Friday, in broad daylight. Two men enter screaming and armed. Kleen tackles the robbers while the staff raises the alarm. ‘I grabbed a chair and rushed towards him. I haven’t even seen the second robber, ‘Kleen tells Omroep West.
During a struggle, Kleen is hit on the head several times. “It left me a lot,” says the jeweler. His right eye is thick and purple and he has 16 stitches in his head. His knee is also broken. “The doctor makes me sit at home, but I am not at all happy with it,” said the jeweler. “But I’m not stressed, I’ve been able to reasonably keep the peace in my heart.”
Flowers and fruit baskets
The store opened again the day after the robbery. But without Kleen, who cannot go to work due to his injuries. ‘They had a lot of visitors in the store, people asked how things were going. I was sitting here in my chair at home. We were buried under flowers and fruit bowls, ‘he says. ‘That was very nice. It comes from customers, Katwijkers, from friends and acquaintances, but also from strangers I hardly know. They sympathize anyway. ‘
Messages are also pouring in from fellow jewelers throughout the country. ‘I’ve had a lot of texts and e-mails with support. The day before yesterday I think I was answering text messages for three hours. Now the attention makes me a bit uncomfortable. ‘
Don’t be a hero
He does not consider himself a hero because he has attacked the robbers. Looking back at the fight with the robbers, Kleen describes himself as a ‘mad bull’. “The first thing that came to mind was to dispel that evil. I never did it to be a hero. I heard afterwards that he tried to reload the gun …. I see it as a miracle that it went like this, it should have been. Others speak of happiness, but I experience it differently. I live from the realization that God is a mighty protector. ‘
He is not afraid to return to his shop. ‘When I go back to the store, nothing will have changed for me. I would have loved to have just wanted to go there again, ‘he says. ‘We will look at security, how we can better keep the door closed, perhaps an entrance sluice. You have all been awakened and sharper. ‘
Forgiveness
The jeweler is not angry with the robbers, unlike his family. ‘I didn’t feel any hatred during the robbery, I just wanted to drive them away. Not to praise myself, but I got that over me, ‘he says. Even now he mainly feels sorry for the perpetrators. “Yesterday my children were here, then I even got the love in my heart to pray for those boys, if God will forgive their sin.”
Kleen continues: ‘I am not angry. The devil sent them to my shop. If they came up to me and asked if I would forgive them, I would shake hands with them wholeheartedly. ”
READ ALSO: Jeweler candid after violent robbery: ‘it could have turned out differently’
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