August 29, 1996: That day I had been busy painting the gangway of my boat. I would still do that the next day
give it a try and, when it is almost dry, sprinkle it with bird sand so that it is stiff. On the next day I took the dog
exhausts, and what I didn't know was that it had rained a little bit, so it was very slippery. I took a step onto the gangplanks and there I lay, down on the scaffolding with a broken arm and what was worse, a broken neck. The neurosurgeon came to see me after the operation and said that I had been very lucky.
exhausts, and what I didn't know was that it had rained a little bit, so it was very slippery. I took a step onto the gangplanks and there I lay, down on the scaffolding with a broken arm and what was worse, a broken neck. The neurosurgeon came to see me after the operation and said that I had been very lucky.
They also bore the pain I had to bear, they also had all the pain, unbelievable, I was no longer ALONE.
I no longer had to do it alone, but I could share and talk to people who had the same disability as me.
After the training, there were a number of people who started working for Pijn-Hoop, including me. There was no peer group in my home in Capelle a/d IJssel, so I started one with the support of an experienced volunteer from Pijn-Hoop. This one is still there, so it will also be 25 years old this summer. And hopefully will be around for a long time.
I've been through a lot over the years. My first wife died in 1998, but I knew from Pijn-Hoop that I didn't have to do it alone. So I immediately joined a grief group and got through it! In 2000, a brain tumor was discovered for which I had surgery. After a nine and a half hour operation and 27 radiation treatments, I was back, purely by looking at things positively and with the help of people from Pijn-Hoop. Now I have found a lovely woman again and I am busy working for Pijn-Hoop and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. I now also help with the training, which has helped me so much. I can't tell you how much satisfaction that gives me: seeing people come in, just like me then, and then leaving with a new flame in their eyes.
I am proud of the 25 years that I have been able to work for Pijn-Hoop.
We have been around for 35 years this year and I say: Pijn-Hoop chapeau!!!!
André Bandell
