Bruges Belgian goalkeeper Miguel Van Dame, He has died at the age of 28 of leukemia after fighting against this type of cancer since 2016the club and his family reported on Tuesday.
“Our dear dad went to his last game last night, a game that can no longer be won. You left us very slowly, but you started again in your own way… very strong. You fought like a lion, ”Kyana Dobbelaere, her partner and mother of her daughter Camille, wrote on her Instagram account.
The club, in a statement, also praised the fight of a “friend and teammate” during “his long and unequal battle against leukaemia”.
“Words are not enough to describe how we felt, even though we knew things hadn’t been going well for a while. Today is an extremely difficult day in Cercle Brugge’s nearly 123-year history.”
Bruges remembered the “admirable” goalkeeper, who has played 44 games as a professional, as an “example of positivism, persistence and fighting spirit”.
Van Damme was diagnosed with blood cancer in mid-2016. After two and a half years fighting the disease, doctors declared the athlete cured in early 2019. But months later, doctors detected leukemia again.
Despite his medical leave, in 2020 he renewed his contract with the club he has played for since 2013who had already extended his contract in 2017, in the middle of the illness.
Last September he had announced, again, that there were no “remains of leukemia” in his blood, but lThe disease ended up manifesting itself again.
The news of his death has shaken the world of Belgian football, where clubs such as Union Saint Gilloise, Genk, Bruges KV, Standard de Liège or Anderlecht have sent their condolences to family and friends on social networks.
