‘That girl’s heart can beat thanks to my son’s choice’

A cheerful boy with a love for cars and music

Teun from Drenthe loved tinkering with cars and went nowhere without his JBL speaker. 'Teun had many friends and was often on the go. There were always young people at our place, too.'

On the day of the accident, he went out on his scooter for a bit. 'He exchanged his last texts with a friend nearby. They were going to have a smoke together.'

The accident changed everything

When Jitske was driving home, she passed an ambulance. 'I thought: I hope it’s not one of mine. A little later, Gijs, Teun’s brother, called to say that Teun had been struck by a car.'

At the hospital, they received the bad news. 'Teun had 3 fractures in his skull and part of his brain was not getting oxygen. I still thought: maybe he lent his scooter to someone. But it was really my Teun.'

‘Imagine if you needed it’

In the night after the accident, Jitske and her son Gijs discussed the possibility of organ donation. 'Teun said: imagine if you needed it, and if you’re no longer alive, you might as well help someone else with it.'

Jitske herself brought up the subject with the hospital. 'The intensivist had never experienced that before.'

Time to say goodbye

There was no hope of recovery. “On the left side, his brain had already largely died. Even if he were to wake up, he would be a vegetable. He would never have wanted that.”

During the medical examinations, there was time to be with Teun. “Gijs was still able to play music for him with that JBL box.”

Loving farewell in the hospital

'Then you’re just waiting for your child to die, indescribable…' After he passed away, two nurses took loving care of Teun. 'Two angels, so warm… They went to wash Teun, I couldn't do that myself, and said: come sit with us. To me, that was very loving.'

A funeral his way

Teun’s funeral was exactly as he would have wanted it. 'There was a service with a small group, with Teun’s JBL box on the coffin. Afterward, we celebrated his life at his local pub. We handed out shots of milk, and grilled cheese sandwiches and frikandellen. That’s how he would have done it too.'

His donation saved lives

Teun donated his lungs, liver, pancreas, and kidneys. His heart tissue was also used. 'His heart could not be transplanted, but heart tissue could: the heart valve to the pulmonary artery. That was transplanted into a child.'

'That heart valve is perhaps even more essential to me than the organs, because you can hear a heart beat. And that girl was so young…'