When Wim van Minkelen (66) heard last year that he has ALS, he could hardly believe it. He had been in perfect health all his life before that. Yet he remains positive. Wim thinks it’s great that 3FM Serious Request is taking action for the ALS Netherlands Foundation this year. “It’s great.”
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For Wim, the bad news he received in October 2022 was like a bombshell. “I had never been sick in my entire life. When I visited the hospital in the past, it was only to visit people. I couldn’t understand it with my mind.”
In patients with the disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), the muscles fail one by one. After the first symptoms, people with ALS live on average three to five years.
The first symptoms
Afterwards it turned out that Wim had already shown the first symptoms about three years before his diagnosis. “At one point I could no longer get up properly from my chair and suffered from cramps at night. At the time I was renovating my apartment. At first I thought the complaints were related to that.”
To the doctor
When Wim went to the doctor after a while, he was not immediately referred. “On average, GPs only see an ALS patient once or twice in their lives. It is therefore difficult for them to recognize the disease. Then I insisted on a referral to a neurologist.”
Life expectancy must increase
Helping fellow sufferers
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Wim did not give up. After he was diagnosed, he immediately stopped working. He became a member of the ALS patient association (APV) and thus took on a board position. The APV organizes meetings for patients and loved ones, so that they can share experiences. “Because I also have ALS, I know better than anyone what it does to you. I think this allows me to help people well.”
The ALS patient association (APV) was set up at the end of 2014. The motto is ‘of, for and by patients’. The association connects and represents people with ALS, PSMA and PLS and their loved ones.
Always busy
According to Wim, it is important for people with ALS to look for activities that give you energy. “I have found a purpose with my volunteer work at the APV. As a self-employed entrepreneur, I used to always be busy and I still am now. I love that. I don’t have to chase the geraniums, I think they’re rotten plants.”
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Wim behind the laptop. Own picture
It is possible
“At the moment there is actually no medicine for ALS. Yet, thanks to twenty years of research, we know that it is possible to develop a working medicine against this disease.” That is why, according to Wim, it is important that as much money as possible is raised for the ALS Netherlands Foundation this week. “Life expectancy must increase. I also see patients in their thirties, with a young family. That’s horrible.”
Just donate
Last Sunday the DJs were locked up in the Glass House in Nijmegen. They hope to raise as much money as possible for the ALS Netherlands Foundation. Do you want to donate? Which can here. You fill in your details and choose an amount yourself. In this way, more money becomes available for scientific research into ALS.
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2023-12-18 18:10:46
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