NPO Radio 1 Presenter Jellie Brouwer Terminally Ill

NPO Radio 1 presenter Jellie Brouwer, who has been one of the regular voices of the art and culture program since 2001 Plastic (NTR), is terminally ill. The program ended a little earlier than usual last night, so that editor-in-chief Yvonne Hoksbergen could respond to questions from listeners who wondered why Brouwer hadn’t been heard for some time, and missed her.

“Jellie knew at the beginning of December last year that she was ill again: a rare form of cancer,” Hoksbergen said. “She worked until the beginning of February this year and was able to have some very nice conversations, which she was very happy with.”

“There was no goodbye, because we hoped together with her that she would make a nice last broadcast. She had done a Houdini act before, and came back gloriously in 2017 after an illness. But unfortunately reality has taken her ugly caught up and she is in the last phase of her life,” continued the editor-in-chief.

Hoksbergen thanked the listeners on behalf of Brouwer and the program makers. “All the sweet comments, the compliments, the loyal listening. It does her good to know that she is missed.” Her colleagues also miss her, the radio maker said. “With her very own tone, her taste, her humor, she intuitively managed to get to the core very quickly. Because every person has a story, she just had to look for it.”

The 59-year-old Brouwer has been one of the regular presenters of the program since the beginning Plastic. Previously she was a presenter and reporter for the then Radio and TV West, and radio reporter and presenter for programs of the NOS and AVRO.