Such sad news today. Young Marvin Plugge has passed away. It was a shock to read this on his Facebook page.

Marvin joined us in the early days of Inspire2Live and was immediately known for his optimism and way of dealing with his cancer. A brain tumour. Marvin showed us that there is hope for patients with a brain tumour. Whereas most of them die within one and a half years, Marvin lived forever, according to his motto in life.

Hope

‘Hope’ is what immediately comes up when thinking of Marvin. Cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence. We in the rich western world know this, while many in low- and middle-income countries struggle to change the verdict. Brain tumours remain a death sentence globally. Until Marvin, we hoped, we believed. We thought wrong, but gosh, how long did he live with a very good quality of life?

What we will always remember is his contribution to one of our Annual Congresses. ‘What would you like to do Marvin?’ ‘I think you’d better put me on the technical team.’ So, we did, and he performed excellently. All presentations went perfectly. All videos with sound ran smoothly throughout the program. Not a single fault or hesitation. A big applause for Marvin!

Marvin chose his own path and let nothing stand in the way he wanted to follow. His positive mindset always allowed him to see beauty and goodness in life.

A few months ago, he gave me a call to tell me his tumour had become progressive. He wanted to know where good therapies could be found. I gave him some suggestions and expressed my ‘hope’ for a good outcome. Of course, he also consulted other people for advice. Today we heard that the outcome was not positive. Marvin has passed away.

Though he is no longer with us, he still is our source of strength and energy to never ever quit. His hope is the fuel for our fight for a better life for all patients with cancer on this globe.

Thank you for being the beautiful man that you are.

Peter Kapitein & all patient advocates of Inspire2Live