‘It means a lot to me that so many people have come to cheer me on today’, says Pien Scheer (21) while sitting on a bench at the Beestenmarkt on Monday. She has just docked her row boat at the quay. There, twenty people are waiting until the clock strikes eleven, when her rowing marathon begins.
It is an emotional day, the student in International Studies says. She suffers from the auto-immune disease Alopecia areata, which makes her hair fall out and leaves her with bald spots on her head. ‘That’s why I wear a hair piece. But that is old by now, and needs replacing. It costs three thousands euros and I don’t just have that lying around. So I’m trying to raise money through this sponsorship campaign.’
With her student rowing association, Asopos de Vliet, she organised the event ‘Roeien voor Haar’ (transl: Rowing for Hair/Rowing for Her). ‘An auto-immune disease impacts you not only physically, but also mentally.’ Half of the donated money wil go to MIND (a trust advocating mental health).
Today, Scheer is rowing with teammate and medicine student Janneke van der Weerdt and helmsman Tim van Trappen, who studies molecular science and technology. They have been training for this marathon since September.
Scheer: ‘We have been working towards this for a really long time. It has been a rocky road, because I’ve been ill a lot recently. At times, I thought: can I handle this physically? But we want to reach the 42 kilometres no matter what. We are expecting some thunderstorms, so hopefully we will make it. Otherwise we can always finish the distance on the ergometers.’
Her parents, friends and colleagues are supporting her today. ‘She is doing something for herself but also for others’, mother Nadine says. ‘She puts the condition on the map and shows herself. She’s really saying: “I have a strong personality despite having no hair.”’
Then the clock strikes eleven. ‘Oh, they’re leaving’, Nadine shouts. ‘Under the sound of loud cheering and clapping, Scheer and Van der Weerdt take off. Scheer begins the marathon wearing her old hair piece, but takes it off after the first round through the canals.
‘When she is with me, she always takes it off and puts it back on’, says her partner Matías Caneda Cabrera, who is cheering her on from the quay. ‘When we’re at a festival, for example, I just put it in my pocket. Or she sets it down randomly somewhere, which makes people wonder: “Huh? What is that?”’
‘I think it’s cool how she walks through the city and the university with her bald head’, Scheer’s sister Sophie says. ‘I am happy and proud. It is great to see how she brings people together through Alopecia.’
Meanwhile, the board members of Asopos de Vliet have provided music at the Beestenmarkt. On a large stage, passers-by can test their rowing abilities on one of the five ergometers that have been placed there, and they can donate. ‘We have raised over two thousand euros by now’, Asopos-member Femke Heijmering says. ‘I did not expect that there would be this many donations.
At three o clock, after thirty kilometres, the rowers take a break. ‘It is going pretty well’, Scheer says as she sticks band-aids on the blisters on her fingers. ‘But this last lap was really though. We were less talkative.’ ‘My butt hurts’, Van Trappen complains. ‘But other than that, everything’s fine.’
Problem: thunder is coming. The duo decides to complete the marathon on the ergometers. ‘I think it is cool to see that Janneke and Pien have rowed thirty kilometres on the water’, Heijmering says. ‘Ít’s great that they finish together with the audience on the ergometers.’
‘Having to leave the water was a small point of frustration, but the finish line is in sight’, mother Nadine says. ‘They did well. I’m proud.’
Then the moment arrives. Scheer and Van der Weerdt reach the finish line. Hugs are shared and tears are shed. The final amount raised is 2571 euros (and donating is possibly for two more weeks).
‘The ergo was rough’, says Van der Weerdt. ‘On the water, time flies by. Especially when you make a lap through the city and you have that distraction.’ ‘I had a great time’, Scheer says, after she is handed a big bouquet of sunflowers by her partner. ‘But we just did this together, and we survived.’