Former Amsterdam police officer takes on ALS with City Swim

Arjen van de Merwe, a 59-year-old former Amsterdam police officer, will take part in this Sunday’s Amsterdam City Swim, pulled along the Keizersgracht and across the Amstel in a small boat by a group of friends from his gym.

All proceeds from the event go to ALS research, which raised almost 1.8 million euros last year.

Van de Merwe spent nearly thirty years with the police, most recently as a police officer in Slotermeer, where he also worked as a liaison visiting families dealing with domestic violence.

He first noticed something was wrong through his fingers, struggling to turn a key in a lock, alongside unexplained pain and a sharp decline in his fitness. It took roughly a year of tests across three hospitals before doctors identified both ALS and MS, a combination that is extremely rare.

He continued doing administrative work at the police for a while after his diagnosis, until typing became too difficult as well. Former colleagues still call him occasionally for advice, which he says helps him feel connected to the job.

This is his second year joining the City Swim, after friends from his gym, organised by someone he grew up with in the neighbourhood, first offered to pull him along last year.

The average life expectancy after an ALS diagnosis is around three years, though some patients live with the disease for fifteen years or more. Van de Merwe now uses a specialised wheelchair but can still speak, eat and drink normally.

He has an eye-controlled speech computer with his own voice pre-recorded, which he hopes never to need but is relieved to have as a backup.

At the City Swim he meets other participants living with ALS, some further along in the disease and others recently diagnosed, and says he tries to show the newly diagnosed that life does not end overnight.

There is currently no cure for the disease, and some patients choose to end their lives relatively soon after diagnosis.

Van de Merwe has said that his own outlook has shifted since his diagnosis: rather than focusing on what he can no longer do, he tries to concentrate on what is still possible, including watching his children grow up.

He is raising money for the Dutch ALS Foundation partly in memory of a friend’s father, who died of the disease around twelve years ago after taking part in trials for ALS-inhibiting medication that Van de Merwe now takes himself.

Because he also has MS, he is not eligible to join ALS-specific research himself, so fundraising and public talks are how he contributes instead.

Earlier this summer, Van de Merwe and his family travelled to Mont Ventoux in France to take part in the Tour du ALS, raising several thousand euros.

His son and a friend cycled the route while his wife, daughter and another friend walked it, and Van de Merwe followed alongside on a mobility scooter, carrying water and snacks for the group.

Source: De Telegraaf