Kortrijk (Brussels Morning Newspaper): On 17 October, at 9 a.m., a retaining wall for the “Kom op tegen Kanker” campaign was set up in Kortrijk. Jan Bale highlighted how community support grew as people wrote messages, filling the wall by midday. The initiative encourages messages of hope for cancer patients and offers ribbons to participants.
A retaining wall was set up in Kortrijk on 17th October at 9 a.m. for the “Kom op tegen Kanker” campaign. At first, it was quiet, but others were inspired to join in when some people started writing messages. The wall quickly filled with personal notes and encouraging words from passersby.
What impact did the support wall for “Kom op tegen Kanker” have in Kortriik?
A representative from the campaign Jan Bale, shared how the wall changed throughout the day. He mentioned that after writing a few messages, more people felt inspired to contribute. “Once people see other people writing, they spontaneously come and write a message too,” Bale said. By midday, the wall was almost completely covered in messages.
A woman at the support wall wrote a message for her godmother, saying, “Don’t give up, you are a strong woman, we will get through this together.” Her godmother is dealing with severe breast cancer for the second time, and they are unsure about her recovery. A volunteer at the wall said they have seen many messages of support, including one from a cancer survivor thanking nurses for their care and another from someone who has died from cancer. Anyone who writes a message gets a ribbon to show support for cancer patients. The support wall was to stay at the Grote Mark until 5 p.m. before moving to AZ Groeninge to encourage the patients.
