Ryan Donk enjoyed immense success as a footballer in Turkey, notably winning multiple league titles with Galatasaray. However, a series of setbacks plunged the powerful defender into a deep personal crisis. Donk speaks candidly about this period in the new documentary, Real Men Don't Cry.
Documentary
The documentary is an initiative by former footballers Gianni Zuiverloon and Edson Braafheid. Its central theme is mental health, a topic rarely discussed in professional football. Donk himself experienced a harrowing ordeal, which he only fully grasped when it was almost too late.
"I was sidelined by the coach of the team I was playing for," Donk begins in the documentary. "A new coach came in and the first thing he said was: 'I can't find Donk, because I don't see Ryan in front of me either.' He told me: 'You need to find yourself first. Right now, you don't realize it, but you are very blocked. I also see that you're not allowing this. Give me time for that.'"
'Goosebumps'
The words of his new coach at Galatasaray seemed to initially bear fruit for the twelve-time Suriname international. "At one point, I started getting more minutes, and the championship was drawing closer," Donk continues. "I walked into the dressing room and felt goosebumps all over my body. And I didn't hear anyone else during that match. I was completely locked in."
"At halftime, the coach came to me and said: 'This is what I meant. You've never found 100% of yourself. Today is day one.' And we became champions. And I found myself that year too, and we became champions again." Donk won the Turkish Süper Lig title with Galatasaray in both 2018 and 2019.
Major Setback
However, the central defender eventually faced a major setback, after which everything spiraled out of control. "Then COVID hit, and my grandmother passed away," a visibly distraught Donk recounts. "She was everything to me. I had no warmth left, no reason to come back to the Netherlands. So, I isolated myself, and because of COVID, I was alone a lot. I just turned off my phone and started drinking."
Turkey Earthquake
Donk was at rock bottom at that point. Until a profoundly impactful event changed everything. "Until the moment I experienced an earthquake," Donk explains, referring to the devastating earthquakes in Turkey in February 2023, which forced him to flee for his life. "It was a quarter past four, and everything was shaking. Everyone was screaming, and no one knew what to do. That was actually the only moment I felt she (his grandmother, ed.) was there. And that she just told me: 'Get up, run'. I think that brought me here, to be alive," Donk concludes.
Janmaat
Donk retired from football after the 2022/2023 season. He is one of the professional footballers who speaks very openly in the documentary. Former Feyenoord player Daryl Janmaat also shared in Real Men Don't Cry that he had been addicted to cocaine in recent years.