She would have wanted and should have returned to racing in the coming weeks, she was already dreaming of flying to Rwanda to compete in the world championship but life places a new obstacle on the path of Jilke Michielsen.

It's not easy to tell her story, just as it's not easy to tell any story of illness. No matter the age, ambition, dream, the reality of those who live it firsthand: it's not easy to tell such a story.

Like all stories, Jilke's story also has a beginning: once there was a 16-year-old girl who had won the Belgian time trial championship, had just conquered a stage of the Kontich Two Days but was suffering from back pain. Visits, exams, more in-depth analyses - this is the part of the story common to all such stories - until in September 2023 she was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a malignant bone tumor.

The diagnosis was followed by 14 chemotherapy treatments and 33 radiotherapy sessions: Jilke's body rebels, developing various types of abscesses that must be surgically removed. The oncologist tells her she can stop chemotherapy, but she decides to continue and endures everything because they explained to her that by doing so she can minimize the possibility of the tumor recurring.

Last summer, Jilke completed her last chemotherapy cycle and two weeks later was back on her racing bike. At the beginning of the year, the magazine of the daily Het Nieuwsblad - whose journalists Thibaut Renson and Kim Clemens told this story with great sensitivity - dedicated its cover to her and collected her dreams: "I want to participate in the World Championships in Rwanda, but first I want to focus on Belgian races".

Moreover, last Sunday, Jilke's story was featured on Zamana TV, a talk show about people with chronic diseases broadcast on Eclips TV. A sunny interview, in which the girl talks about her return to racing but also about waiting to take the medical school entrance exam and her desire to spend more time with her family: "Life is not just about racing".

It was a recorded interview, almost mocking. Because a few days ago Jilke experienced new pains, underwent a CT scan and new tests. And on her Instagram page, with incredible and dramatic clarity, she tells: "Everyone knows the stress that precedes the arrival of results from a CT scan done a few days earlier. While you make the journey to the hospital, you talk about everything, try to distract yourself, but nothing really matters. Except those damn last seconds you spend until you find yourself in the waiting room and have to hold back tears. The doctor comes to call you, but you can't read anything on her face. You tell her that the pain has subsided in recent days, but then she shatters your dream: 'Cancer is back'".

And Jilke adds: "'If you want, you can start chemotherapy again,' the doctor told me. I sat there for five minutes without saying anything. Incredulous about how this could have happened, but I am determined to do everything possible to make it through. It will be tough, but I enjoy every moment because weeds never die.
P.S. Enjoy every moment and stop complaining about small things".

Jilke, as her Belgian colleagues who wrote the article together with her report, tells her story on social media and for now does not want to go into details or add more words: "'It's still too fresh".

But of one thing we are sure, Jilke: there are still many pages to be written in your story.

photos from Instagram