Exactly four years ago yesterday, Amy Pieters crashed during a training session with the national track team near Calpe. She was airlifted by helicopter to the hospital, where she immediately underwent a life-saving operation. She remained in a coma for months, but Pieters eventually woke up. However, her life has looked completely different ever since. How is the former top rider doing now?
The Haarlems Dagblad decided to visit Pieters and her partner Stefan Vreugdenhil—who visits every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday—in Amersfoort, where Pieters has been living in a care facility since January 2024. These days, she fills her time with various therapies (including speech therapy and singing therapy), visits from family and friends, reading magazines, and playing games.
Physically, she's doing relatively well, but the former elite cyclist is no longer able to live independently. Furthermore, her cognitive abilities have been severely impaired and limited, which manifests in a poor short-term memory and aphasia—a language disorder caused by brain injury that makes speaking, understanding, reading, and writing difficult.
Singing along with André Hazes
Pieters' vocabulary is limited to just a few words. She still cannot speak, but recently surprised those around her by suddenly singing along during singing therapy to the song Met Bloed, zweet en tranen by André Hazes. "The first time I heard that, I literally got goosebumps," Stefan, her partner, recalls the moment.
"I hadn't heard that beautiful voice of hers in years. You always hope that maybe, through this, she can start communicating more through speech, but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet."
Pieters with former teammates Van der Breggen (left) and Majerus (right) – photo: SD Worx-Protime
Bittersweet
Despite all the daily challenges and limitations, Pieters rises cheerfully every day. "Four years ago, all the misery began," her pillar of support says. "It feels like a lifetime ago, but at the same time, it also feels like yesterday. Back then, we never dared to hope Amy would be as well as she is now, and above all, so cheerful and happy."
"Of course, we all want her to be even better. But imagine if she fully realizes the severity of her situation and felt very depressed because of it... It’s so difficult to explain and all so bittersweet. People sometimes ask if I’m shortchanging myself or express great respect for everything I do, but for me, it’s natural. With Amy, I find peace, and when Amy is happy, I usually am too."
"Of course, I also have difficult moments. Like when friends in our circle get married or have children. Then you realize that’s not going to be part of our lives. But this is our life now, and we’re mainly grateful for everything that is going well."
