“An accident happens in a few seconds, but the impact is for the rest of your life.” Rob Matthijssen (50) from Tilburg was on his way home on his moped in 1994 when he was hit by a car. The exhaust from his moped came straight through his lower leg. The wounds are still there, but his tattoo makes them less visible.
Rob had just returned from friends when the accident happened at a similar intersection. He was hit full on his left side and flew over the car. “My leg was completely shattered. During the first operation I was under the knife for almost seven hours,” says Rob. “In one fell swoop you’re an adult.”
The first years after the accident were all about rehabilitation. That was not easy, because his bones did not grow together properly and screws in his leg became loose. “The physio then came to my home seven days a week. If I hadn’t had that, I would probably never have walked again.”
With a lot of training, Rob managed to run short distances again after about five years. He was able to go back to work. “So I started working fanatically as an IT professional. I worked ten to twelve hour days.” Ultimately, Rob wanted to work closer to home and ended up in the taxi world.
“My whole body was upset.”
After a few more jobs, Rob noticed that things were not going well. He ended up in a burnout. “My whole body was upset,” he says. “In addition to the crush injury, I also suffered a neurological disorder, which causes me to regularly kick my leg spasticly. I also have post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic migraines.”
A rehabilitation program did not help much and in 2016 Rob ended up at home. He suffered from re-experiences. “Then I ended up at Trauma Center Netherlands (TCN). I spent two weeks there internally, which was very intensive.”
At TCN, Rob received an assignment to make something creative with color. “I like drawing dragons, so that’s what I was going to do.” He placed the dragon’s claw on a box. “That box contains all the shit and thanks to TCN I was able to close it reasonably well.”
Rob is now feeling slightly better mentally and physically. “I do short distances with a crutch and long distances in a completely custom-made wheelchair. I also have a handbike that I can put in front of it, so that I can cycle with my hands.”
The scars of the accident remained visible. “I’ve never been ashamed of it, but people are constantly gawking at you. So I wanted to do something with it,” says Rob. That’s why he decided three years ago to get a tattoo over his injuries. “I thought, that’s the perfect place for that dragon.”
Rob had good experiences with Ad and Lize from Rising Sun Tattoo & Piercing in Roosendaal and approached them. “I showed my drawing and Ad laughed, because I’m really bad at drawing, but of course it was about the symbolism,” Rob laughs.
“I had about thirty to forty attacks during the sessions.”
Rob’s leg is full of scar tissue, so getting a tattoo was a challenge. “I told Ad beforehand that we might have to fix my leg so that I wouldn’t kick him in the ass, but Ad didn’t want that.”
The dragon was put on its feet in several sessions. It hurt a lot, but he was willing to pay for it. “I had about thirty to forty attacks during the sessions, but Ad sensed this and kept withdrawing his hand and face. He did this with so much patience and respect.”
And as painful as the sessions were, Rob is very happy that he did this. “I got this result and I will be grateful for it for the rest of my life.”
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