He died at the age of 28, when on 7 June 1989 he was killed in the Surinam Airways Flight PY764 air crash in Paramaribo.

Both Jerry and Winnie Haatrecht were known as talented youth players and were always playing at the Balboa Square in Amsterdam with their buddies Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.

[1][2] Jerry was not successful in professional football, and decided to move to the amateur divisions and served several teams (DRC Durgerdam[2] and Rood Wit A[3]) before joining VV Neerlandia '31.

The crash and the appearance of both Gullit and Rijkaard at his funeral made Jerry Haatrecht a well known footballer worldwide.

Jerry was born in Paramaribo, the son of Elfriede Augusta Simons and Ewald Ronald Haatrecht.