When Maarten van der Weijden, an Olympic swimmer from the Netherlands, was just 19 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer. The doctor said there’s a small chance he can survive leukemia. But van der Weijden proved them wrong by beating cancer and made a huge comeback in swimming after only 2 years after the diagnosis.
Much to everyone’s amazement, the former cancer patient managed to win a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing. Recently, the gold medalist tried to swim the entire 200-km long track of Elfstedentocht in the Netherlands, to raise funds for cancer research, a cause close to his heart.
The swim was scheduled to take 3 days with brief naps to rest. But van der Weijden fell ill after he swam a distance of 163 km in 55 hours, and the water was considered to be too polluted for him to continue. Despite not being able to reach his 200-km goal, the fundraising campaign was very successful. The Olympic swimmer raised a whopping €3.5 million!
Van 18-21 augustus 2018 zwem ik de elfstedentocht. Dit doe ik om geld op te halen voor kankeronderzoek! Zwem mee! https://t.co/hb4hylLfEK pic.twitter.com/99Y8e5C4o3
— Maarten vd Weijden (@mvdweijden) August 22, 2017
🏊🎉Een heroïsche prestatie: @mvdweijden zwom 55 uur om geld op te halen voor kankeronderzoek. En dat lukt boven verwachting. Schatte Maarten bij aanvang 8 ton op te halen: De tikker staat nu al op 3,5 miljoen! Kijk hier de uitzending terug 👉https://t.co/P0hWTNc7Fy pic.twitter.com/QnDFWpnthq
— Nadia Moussaid – Laat op één (@NadiaMoussaid) August 22, 2018
