Ten years ago, Rob Hoevenaars lost his eleven-year-old daughter Amy. She was in the disaster bus that hit a wall in a tunnel in Sierre, Switzerland. This Sunday, father Rob will return to the place where his daughter died.
22 children and 6 adults were killed in the accident. Amy attended school in Lommel, just across the border near Bergeijk, where father Rob comes from. She was in Switzerland for a skiing holiday with her class. “She looked forward to this holiday all year round. She had never skied before”, says Rob at the kitchen table.
Amy was very sensitive. When she left, she said goodbye to everything at home. “She said: ‘Bye house, bye bike’. As if she was saying goodbye. At that moment you don’t stop there. Then you say: ‘That is very strange’.”
The bus was on its way home after the holidays. The accident happened between eight and nine o’clock in the evening. It wasn’t until the next morning around 6am that Rob got a call from his brother. He had heard in the media that something had happened to the bus. Rob didn’t believe it. “We can’t because our Amy will be home in a few hours. We hadn’t heard anything from the official channels yet. I looked at the computer and saw that it had happened in Switzerland the night before. Then I knew she was in it. I called the Swiss hospital and they said, ‘We can’t say anything’.”
What followed was a hellish journey. Rob and other parents went to the crash site in Switzerland by bus and a military plane. “I had a backpack with food and underwear: I brought everything for Amy and ourselves.”
The parents did not know if their child was still alive. “There were parents who panicked and screamed when they heard the bad news. I couldn’t stand that. That is why I was outside as much as possible.”
On the bus, parents received a phone call and were told that their child was alive. ”Then you saw and heard joy and you could count down. Then you looked at how much chance you still had. It was a constant calculation. One is happy and the other thinks: another chance less. It was quiet on the plane. You could have heard a pin drop.”
Amy turned out to be dead. Rob had to identify her. Her death made him a different person. “The way of life is changing. My work was never finished. Now I’m fine with doing everything I can. You put things into perspective more easily.”
Rob got a tattoo that contains her ashes. At home, her room is still the same as it was then. “Her bed is still there. photos. Her perfume and diaries. I sometimes work there. It remains her room.”
“I will never forget our Amy. The loss hurts me a lot, but life goes on. I also have another son. Our Jens also just has his life and things to move on with. It’s different. When he gets married: his sister should have been there, but she’s never there again. It will always stay that way, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live anymore.”
Sunday 13 March it will be ten years ago. One day the parents who want to go back to the disaster site. There a plaque is unveiled in the tunnel. “It’s almost identical to then, only it won’t be so quiet on the plane now, I hope.”