Queen Maxima Goes Back to Work After the Death of Her Sister

Today, Tuesday June 19, Her Majesty Queen Maxima was back on duty two weeks after the tragic death of her youngest sister, Inés. The Queen paid a working visit to University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in Groningen for the opening of the proton therapy center.
Initially Queen Maxima would have officially opened the UMCG Proton Therapy Center last June 8 but the visit was postponed due to the death of her sister. Upon her arrival the Queen was welcomed by Jos Aartsen, the UMCG Executive Board Chairman and Bart Vanhauten, radiotherapist and Head of the Radiotherapy Department.
During the visit Queen Maxima toured the various treatment rooms and spoke with doctors, nurses and patients about this new form of cancer treatment.
The proton therapy “is a new radiation treatment for patients with cancer that is new to the Netherlands. With proton therapy, the radiation dose can be administered very accurately to a tumor, reducing radiation in the surrounding healthy tissues and reducing the risk of side effects and long-term adverse effects”.
The University Medical Center Groningen Proton Therapy Center is the first center in the Netherlands to offer proton therapy to patients and also the only center in the Netherlands that treats children with proton therapy.

 

At the end of the visit Queen Maxima took a moment to give a short statement to the press gathered for the event. The Queen talked about her late sister saying that “My little, dear, gifted sister Inés was also ill. She could not find joy and she could not heal. Our only consolation is that she finally has been able to find peace”.
Queen Maxima also thanked “for the countless letters, messages and expressions of sympathy. It really helped us. And I also want to thank you for the respect everyone has had for my family during this very difficult period

Máxima: troost dat Inés eindelijk vrede heeft https://t.co/4TrgqJItAp pic.twitter.com/0LO1KgOUFb

— Vorsten (@VorstenNL) June 19, 2018

Filed under The Netherlands
Tagged Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

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