Tragedy struck in 2022 for 22-year-old Vera van den Boom from Geldrop and her best friend Kaylee. They were both diagnosed with cancer. After three years, Kaylee succumbed to the disease at the age of 21. To honour her deceased friend, Vera will run Eindhoven half marathon this coming Sunday: “She was an example to me”.
“Kaylee was incredibly funny and the lifeblood of our group of friends”, Vera recalls of her best friend. They met in the second grade of high school. “Kaylee and I often sat next to each other in classes like biology. It was always fun and laughter”.
With their group of friends, they occasionally went away for a weekend, had movie nights, and partied regularly. “Kaylee always went all out for her birthday and threw a fantastic party”, Vera says.
Together in the nursing home
That carefree life came to an end in 2022. Kaylee was told she had a brain tumor. “She didn’t have a good prognosis at all, but she still tried to reassure us”, Vera says. When the seven friends were sitting on Kaylee’s couch and heard the bad news, Kaylee said, “But I’m not going to die anytime soon. We are going to turn the nursing home upside down when we are old!”.
However, Kaylee’s condition continued to deteriorate. During the last months of her life, she could barely move or speak. Kaylee’s wish was to see almost no friends during this time. “You naturally want to be there for someone, but Kaylee wanted us to remember her as she was”, Vera says.
Ocular Melanoma
Around the time Kaylee was ill, Vera was also diagnosed with cancer. Due to a melanoma in her left eye, she has only ten per cent vision in that side. “At first, I had poor depth perception. Because of that, I’d misplace glasses so they fell and I’d knock everything over. Now I’ve gotten used to it”. Vera is regularly monitored for metastases until she’s 30 and will never regain the vision in her left eye.
The unlikely situation these two young women found themselves in meant that Vera and Kaylee were incredibly supportive of each other during difficult times.
“Kaylee’s diagnosis was much more difficult than mine, but we still had so much support from each other. No one understood us the way we understood each other”. Vera has always admired the way Kaylee handled her diagnosis.
Better opportunities
Never give up and always push your boundaries are two of the most important things Vera learned from Kaylee. The Geldrop native will put these lessons into practice this coming Sunday during Eindhoven Marathon.
Vera is running with two other friends to raise money for Hersenstichting (brain foundation). It’s going better than expected. The target amount of €1,000 has already been quadrupled.
Shirts have been arranged for supporters of Vera and her friends, emblasoned with ‘Team Jacky and Kaylee’. Jacky is the father of one of the friends. He died of brain damage. Vera: “We hope that with our amount we can contribute to better opportunities for people with a brain disorder”.
Source: Studio040/Anna van Lith
Translated by: Bob
