At the end of 1997 De Graaff received a
donor kidney and was for a time able to live a relatively normal life. In 1999 the kidney was
rejected and his health deteriorated quickly. De Graaff died on 25 May 2002 at the age of 35. De Graaff was posthumously awarded the Golden Statue ("Gouden Beeld" in Dutch) in the category Career Award ("Carrière-award" in Dutch) in 2002. ==Notes==