“Myrthe’s Story: The Resilience and Farewell of a Young Girl with Aggressive Leukemia”

Myrthe has a very aggressive form of leukemia. A third stem cell transplant is actually no longer necessary, the young girl tells presenter Paul de Leeuw in November 2021. He visits her parents three months later. “No one expected that she would still be here,” says mother Rosemarijn. She shows tremendous resilience. “We just enjoy the moments we have together,” says father Giovanni.

Myrthe likes to direct the last moments of her life, but she is also busy with her farewell. “It’s very unreal to have conversations with your child about ‘what do you want with goodbye?’ But Myrthe does have clear ideas about that,” Rosemarijn tells Paul. “For example, she thought it was very important to give her opinion about her urn that she will soon go into. She says: ‘That really shouldn’t be such an ugly cookie tin. I really don’t go in there, you know.'”

A month later, February 2022, the doctors say they fear that the leukemia has caught up with Myrthe. She died a day later on February 5. Friends and family say goodbye to Myrthe in the Goffertpark in Nijmegen. Her mother and father speak nice words. “I find her creativity, not only with drawing, but also with creating her own light, impressive,” says Rosemarijn during the farewell. Myrthe has asked Paul de Leeuw to sing and he does. He sings the song ‘So Pure Can Love Be’. Myrthe turned 13 years old.

Don’t Get Small can be seen every Tuesday at 9.05 pm at BNNVARA on NPO 1.