‘Wonder Doctor’ Dies At 81

Physiotherapist Dick van Toorn has died at the age of 81. The Dutchman died as a result of a number of strokes. That was confirmed by a trustee of the family on Tuesday. Van Toorn was famous for his treatments of sports injuries. Many top athletes such as football players Johan Cruyff, Willem van Hanegem, Ruud Krol, Ronald Koeman and Rafael van der Vaart, tennis players Tom Okker and Betty Stöve, hockey player Ties Kruize and cyclist Jelle Nijdam let themselves be treated by van Toorn. Van Toorn became very famous when shortly before the 2010 World Cup, soccer star Arjen Robben had a severe hamstring injury and he then focused his hopes on Dick van Toorn. With Robben, all the Dutch hoped that van Toorn could fix the star player and give the Netherlands a chance to win the World Cup. Against expectations, Robben could still participate in the tournament and shot the Orange Squad almost to victory in the final against Spain. After the World Cup there arose much ado about the unorthodox treatment of van Toorn. Robbens club Bayern Munich, found that the injury was not healed, and the attacker was not allowed to play for half a year.