This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A terminally ill six-year-old Dutch boy, who hoped to raise a few hundred euros by daring people to paint their nails, has raised more than €2.5m (£2.1m).



Tijn Kolsteren, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in May, launched the appeal just three days ago, but it fired the imagination of the Dutch public. The charity drive ended on Saturday.

“With his nail-painting dare he wanted to help children suffering from pneumonia,” the Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported. “It was an enormous success – from DJ Armin van Buuren to prime minister Mark Rutte, and many other famous celebrities had their nails painted.”

The donation page urged people: “Paint your nails, make a donation and then challenge three of your friends to do the same.” It invited participants to share their pictures on social media using the hashtag #lakaan (meaning “the polish is on”).

Armin van Buuren (@arminvanbuuren) Challenge accepted @Domien! Bij deze daag ik uit jarige @borsato, @johnewbanknl en @nickensimon om ook hun nagels te lakken voor Tijn! #SR16 pic.twitter.com/HYeaHe3paQ

Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) Geweldige actie #tijn ik doe natuurlijk mee! Je bent een topper!#lakaan #sr16 #heelhollandlakthttps://t.co/asRbPDNs56 pic.twitter.com/E7CWvQLXVO

Don Diablo (@DonDiablo) This one is for #Tijn wat een held ❤️ Onderweg naar Breda as we speak. Ready to cut some shapes #LakAan #sr16 pic.twitter.com/Hu7kpS5zFT

The appeal is part of a traditional event in the Netherlands where radio DJs lock themselves away for without food or drink to raise money. This year, proceeds are going to the Red Cross.

Rutte joined the DJs late on Friday and opted for a deep blue for his own nails.

Tijn’s family learned only last week that a course of chemotherapy had failed to reduce the size of his cancer.

“Despite this bad news, we wanted to do something for children who won’t maybe even make it to six,” his father, Gerrit, told NOS.

“We came up with the idea together: Tijn had already painted his nails with a friend and liked it. I wanted to do something similar to the ice bucket challenge and men painting their nails is a bit taboo,” he added, referring to the internet craze that raised money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The Dutch media hailed the boy as a hero, with the tabloid newspaper AD putting a picture of him dressed as a superhero under the headline “SuperTijn” on the front of its Friday edition.