CDA leader Henri Bontenbal says that the party is defeated by Brink’s death. “Rick was loved in our party. He worked tirelessly for the CDA, even in difficult times. His other major mission was to allow people with disabilities to be a full part of society. He was really a figurehead and a huge go-getter.” Chairman Jean Wiertz said that the CDA was proud of how Brink “managed to draw attention to the interests of people with disabilities again and again.”
Warrior
Party colleague Hugo de Jonge, who was Minister of Health when Brink was ‘Minister of Disabled Affairs’, calls him “a tireless fighter for people with disabilities”.
Brink has been party leader of the CDA in the Provincial Council of Overijssel since 2022. He previously sat for that party in the municipal council of his hometown of Hardenberg. Brink was still at the Oelemölle mill in Hardenberg on Saturday morning, a few hours before his death. There he opened a camera system, allowing people with disabilities to see from the ground how a mill works.
Inclusion
After the termination of the ‘ministry of disabled affairs’, Brink remained involved with KRO-NCRV as an inclusion advisor. He advised the broadcaster and the NPO on how to involve people from disadvantaged groups in broadcasters and programs.
Optimism
Pieter Omtzigt, leader of New Social Contract, calls Brink’s death a huge loss. “Rick’s optimism and enthusiasm was really contagious,” says the Twente politician on Difficult to understand…”
Boris van der Ham, chairman of the Association for Disabled Care in the Netherlands, says that Brink contributed to the association’s vision on care for the disabled. “We are losing a powerful warrior for people with disabilities.” (AP)
