She was lying on the side of the road after the car she was in crashed into a tree. And she thought, “I’ve been very lucky. I don’t feel anything.” But that turned out to be completely wrong: she had a spinal cord injury. The 19-year-old Maartje van de Sande from Rosmalen was severely disabled from one moment to the next. You can hardly imagine what that is like. That is precisely why Maartje and her father Harrie make the well-listened to podcast ‘Stap by step’. And that shows how they do it, step by step and not thinking too far ahead. Maartje and Harrie talk about it on Sunday in the talk show KRAAK of Omroep Brabant.
Maartje did an internship in Retranchement at Cadzand. Life smiled at her. She was part of the animation team at a local campsite. On October 21 last year they would go out for a while in nearby Knokke. The accident happened on the way there and instead of Knokke she ended up in the hospital in Bruges. After an operation, she was later transferred to the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in Tilburg. There she made the first podcast together with her father.
She wants to talk about what it means to have a spinal cord injury. It’s not just that wheelchair. She can no longer eat, drink, defecate and urinate independently. Together they literally make everything negotiable. Of course there is sadness and the most difficult thing to bear is the sadness of the other person. Of course it is difficult for Maartje when she sees on social media how her friends are enjoying themselves at Paaspop. The podcast is therefore mainly intended to process it all.
But ‘Step by Step’ is also appreciated by healthcare workers. Maartje explains what it’s like to be on the other side. She has also given guest lectures to prospective healthcare personnel at Koning Willem I College and Avans University of Applied Sciences. Father Harrie is proud that his daughter sees opportunities so soon after the accident.
Despite all the sadness, he also has a positive attitude to life. Maartje’s spinal cord injury is high in her neck, but part of the nerves have also been spared. As a result, there are also small surprises of what his daughter can still do, for example move a finger. He says, “We’ve decided from the start that we’re going to celebrate whatever comes back. We’ve had a lot of parties.”
Continue in KRAAK
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KRAAK is broadcast live every Sunday at noon and then repeated. The program can also be viewed online and via Brabant+.