Jan Pronk is still recovering from the heart attack he had three years ago. The former minister is on the better, but still has difficulty climbing stairs, he says in an interview HP / De Tijd.
“I have lost a third of my heart capacity. When I have walked an hour and a half, I am really tired,” says eighty-year-old Pronk.
“And I quit a lot of things. I no longer fly and have stopped lecturing. Those are two important changes in my life, because I traveled all over the world. For me, visiting developing countries was my job and my life. That’s all over now. “
Yet the former United Nations official feels good under the line. This is mainly because he has maintained his physical condition.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym over the last three years, and now that I’m in our second home in Switzerland, I walk a lot.”
Pronk and wife belong to a vulnerable group
Pronk and his wife are careful, because they belong to the vulnerable group for whom a corona infection could be fatal. In the Swiss village they are not confronted with crowds.
“I went here to celebrate my eightieth birthday with my children and grandchildren, but nothing came of it because corona suddenly broke out and they were not allowed out of their house. So my wife and I celebrated the two of us.”
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