Truck driver André Wierikx (38) from Standdaarbuiten ended up in a nightmare on Wednesday. He was driving his truck on the Noordstraat in Wilbertoord, when a black Volkswagen Polo drove straight towards him. The driver died on the spot. At the police station André was told that it was the mother of two children who had been stabbed shortly before in Boekel. “She deliberately steered in my direction,” says André, audibly affected.
The truck driver was unharmed in the accident, but was still recovering from what he experienced on Wednesday evening. “Physically I’m doing well, but mentally it’s a different story,” says André. He was on his way to take pigs to slaughter on Wednesday when he got the fright of his life.
“I was driving on Noordstraat and saw that black car coming closer,” says André. “She was driving on her own side of the road and suddenly she steered straight in my direction. I was terrified and slammed on the brakes.” He could no longer prevent an accident. “I immediately got out of the car and helped her out of the car. But it was already too late. She was already dead.”
“Just sit down for a moment, because I have something to tell you.”
Bystanders came to André’s aid and called the police. André then went to the police station to make a statement. There he heard what terrible thing had preceded the accident. “I asked how the relatives were doing,” says André. “Then the good man said: sit down for a moment, because I have something to tell you.”
The officer told him that there had been a stabbing in Boekel just before the accident. One child died and another child was seriously injured. The woman who collided with his truck is the mother.
“I hugged my own children tightly when I got home.”
“I had goosebumps. And tears in my eyes,” says André. “These are children who are the same age as my children. Ten and twelve,” he sighs. “I was really in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
When he came home, André was happy to see his own children. “My wife told them I had an accident,” he says. André and his wife have left out what happened in Boekel. “But I did hug them tight.”
André thinks that the incident will have a long aftermath. “Fortunately, the police realize that I am the victim and not the perpetrator,” says André. “But it is far from over.”
On Wednesday evening, André and his wife are with friends to distract themselves. “And tomorrow I’m going to the doctor,” he says. “Hope he can sort something out for my mental condition. Because I’m not just going to forget this.”
YOU MAY ALSO FIND THIS INTERESTING:
The accident in Wilbertoord was preceded by a stabbing in Boekel, in which a child died
View images of the accident in Wilbertoord here: