Two Breda young people received a youth ribbon from Mayor Paul Depla on Thursday for a heroic act they had performed. Bas van der Vorm and Jordi Koster, both eighteen years old, saved a man earlier this year, who had ended up in a ditch in the Vrieskou with his bike.
On January 3, Jordi and Bas cycled over a remote road after a drink from their work. Then Bas noticed a red light in the water. “We went to look and saw a man in the water under his bike and the ice lying. He had drunk something, was not approachable and had blood on his head.”
“Half an hour longer and the man might not have survived.”
After they had taken the man out of the water, they decided to call 112. “The ambulance brother told me that if we had waited half an hour longer, the man might not have survived. He was very cool.”
While one of them stayed with the man, the other ran to a nearby home to get warm blankets for the supercooled victim. They stayed with him until the emergency services arrived.
“We just helped him, that’s normal.”
“For us it is not a heroic act to take someone out of the water. We just helped him, that is normal,” says Jordi soberly. “It is special that you get so much appreciation for that, but there are people who do something many specialists,” says Jordi.
“How nice that these two Breda youth came into action when they signaled that someone was in need. I am really proud of that, “says the mayor.” I have a lot of appreciation for their decisive action and involvement. “
Youth ribbons are awarded in several municipalities to encourage young people up to the age of 18 to work socially for the city or for others. Breda now has 33 youth heroes. The youth ribbons put these young people in the spotlight. They deserve recognition and appreciation, and are an example for other young people.
