PSV press secretary Thijs Slegers passed away at the age of 46. Keep reading this article to know what happened to him and Thijs Slegers cause of death.
What happened to Thijs Slegers?
Thijs Slegers passed away on Monday morning at the age of 46. PSV, the club where he worked as press secretary, announced this. Slegers had been seriously ill for some time and was told at the beginning of February that he had finished his treatment. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Slegers was told in October 2020 that he had acute leukemia and had to undergo a stem cell transplant to get better. Initially, this major operation seemed to succeed, but serious side effects soon followed. Slegers was confronted with the so-called rejection disease after the stem cell transplant, he reported at the beginning of last month.
Matchis reacts sadly to news of the death of Thijs Slegers
The center for stem cell donors, Matchis, has learned with sadness of the death of Thijs Slegers, the former PSV press secretary. On Tuesday afternoon, PSV announced that Slegers had lost his life.
Since Slegers announced in February that he was terminally ill, he called on people to register as blood and stem cell donors. As a center for the latter, Matchis has experienced with its own eyes what that call brought about. Since Slegers’ request, more than 11,000 people have registered as new donors.
In a statement to RTL, Matchis reports that the new stream of registrations has still not come to a halt.
“It is still ongoing. We see that donation has come to life in the sports world, and especially among men, which is very special,” can be read in a statement on the site. Matchis links this conclusion to the fact that Slegers had an enormous network in football, of which many men are fans. It also mentions that it is very grateful for the huge increase in registrations.
Read Thijs Slegers’s last tweet
On Friday morning, Slegers shocked his almost 80,000 followers on Twitter with the message that he has unfortunately been told that he has acute leukemia (ALL). He has a tough journey ahead of him, but there is a good chance of a full recovery, he tells his followers.
“With the help of the specialists, the support of my loved ones, and a little bit of luck, I hope to survive this dire situation,” he concludes his message on social media. Hundreds of people have already expressed their support for Thijs.
After his message, Slegers decided to fully commit himself to the recruitment of blood and stem cell donors. That paid off. Shortly after Slegers published the tweet, the number of phone calls at stem cell donor bank Matchis and blood bank Sanquin exploded. He is said to have managed to recruit more than 10,000 donors.
Thijs Slegers Cause of death
In 2015 he joined PSV as a press officer. He fulfilled that role with a passion for seven years. In August 2017 he suffered a cerebral infarction. At the end of October 2020, he was stricken with acute leukemia. Slegers received a stem cell transplant in 2022.
The operation was successful, but at the beginning of February 2023, Slegers announced via social media that the rejection that followed could not be stopped and that he had finished treatment. On March 27, 2023, it was announced that Slegers had died at the age of 46 from the consequences of his illness.
He worked as a football journalist for about eighteen years and then for more than seven years at PSV, where he preferred not to give up his duties during his illness.
Slegers wanted to remain involved in the ups and downs of the club until the last moment of his life. This weekend that life stopped, because the complications after his operation became too intense.
Although it was known that Slegers’ health was deteriorating sharply, the news came as a shock to everyone at PSV. Between 1998 and 2015, Slegers became one of the best-known football journalists in the Netherlands, with more than 80,000 followers on Twitter.
He then stepped into the Philips Stadium as press secretary. He made that switch at the time at the suggestion of former general director Toon Gerbrands.
Reaching Out to His “Only Friend” in Holland While Suffering From An Incurable Illness
Zlatan Ibrahimovic shocked his fans when he revealed his vulnerable and sensitive side to them while speaking about time spent with his friend Thijs Slegers, who is battling acute leukemia. While speaking about him, Slegers also became emotional and began to cry, and Zlatan was unable to control his tears.
Thijs Slegers is a Dutch journalist who has served as the press secretary for PSV Eindhoven and as a club watcher while covering PSV for The Telegraaf. While Zlatan was a student at Ajax, Slegers, and Ibrahimovic first became acquainted.
Slegers was one of the few friends the former PSG footballer had while living in the Netherlands, according to him. When he was a young man, all the other journalists were busy writing tales against the striker, but Slegers stood by him. He claimed that after they had dinner together, Slegers and he had grown close.
While speaking on an ESPN broadcast, Zlatan said:
“He is the only friend I had from Holland when I was lost, I was young, and I was confused, I didn’t have anybody in Holland. At that time journalists were not my friends, they were my enemies, he reached out and we went out for dinner and became very good friends.”
Zlatan further stated that he had even mentioned in his book ‘I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ as he was an important part of his journey toward becoming one of the best. He talked about how grateful he was for everything Slegers did for him. The news of Sleger’s disease seemingly has broken Zlatan who couldn’t control his tears while talking about him.
He said: “He helped me a lot, and gave me all the support I needed. I even wrote about Thijs in my book, I was very thankful for everything and we still keep in contact and he went straight into my heart from that moment. I only want to say that I love you, my friend”
Who was Thijs Slegers?
Thijs Slegers was a Dutch press officer and former sports journalist. PSV appointed Slegers in June 2015 to succeed Jeroen van den Berk as press affairs manager on 1 July 2015. Before that, he worked as a sports journalist for the magazine Voetbal International, including as a ‘club watcher’ of the same club.
He also regularly explained news about PSV in the television program of the same name (currently Voetbal Inside ). Slegers was also a PSV watcher for De Telegraaf. He wrote the biography of Andy van der Meijde: Geen Genade (2012).
In the football program FC Onder Ons of Omroep Brabant, Slegers indicated that he is a supporter of Helmond Sport. In his spare time, he was also a trainer of the fourth team of RKSV Heeze. Slegers lived in Veldhoven .
De Veldhovenaar started working as an intern at Voetbal International while he completed his journalism education. There he worked his way up to full-fledged football journalist, a position he held until mid-2008.
Slegers then became a PSV watcher for De Telegraaf, before returning to the old nest at Voetbal International in the same position. Since 2015 he has been press secretary at the Philips Stadium. He held that position until last weekend when his body failed him.
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Lavanya (Senior Editor) is a full-time content writer with almost 5 years of experience and a part-time teacher. She joined Medico Topics on the Breaking News trainee scheme in 2022 and now works on MedicoTopics.com. As a lifelong learner, She is constantly curious about learning new things and passionate about sharing knowledge with people through her writing and teaching.