They go to the sea for the last time, to a child’s wedding or to the campsite where they have been for years. Seriously ill people have been able to call on the Wish Ambulance Brabant for eleven years now. Due to corona, the tenth anniversary could not be celebrated, but the party will continue on Saturday.
Giel van Genugten from Waalre was an ambulance nurse during his working life. Together with his colleague Frans van Gerven from Valkenswaard, they occasionally took someone somewhere by ambulance in their spare time. They were allowed to use the boss’s car for that.
Now, eleven years later, 750 requests come in every year for these kinds of rides and 150 volunteers ensure that someone’s last wish is fulfilled twice a day. Wish Ambulance Brabant now owns five ambulances.
“The sea is a favorite destination for people from Brabant”, says Giel. “We come there at least twice a week”. He himself recently went to Vlissingen with a seriously ill woman. “There she looked at the sea for a few hours. One of the supervisors recorded the sound of the sea so that she can also listen at home.”
Hospital bed in the awning
Giel actually likes all rides. “Especially the rides that have to do with family and memories, I always find them very beautiful. Sometimes people want to go to the campsite where they have always been, they want to see the owner or the people they interacted with then. We also sometimes set up a hospital bed in an awning of the caravan, so that someone could stay a few more nights at the campsite.”
It’s not always easy work. Almost a quarter of the journeys are canceled because the patient is too ill or has already died. The volunteers deal with families at their most vulnerable.
But WensAmbulance Brabant takes good care of its employees. Rides are always evaluated and sometimes a confidential counselor is available for an extra conversation if the ride with the wish-listed ambulance has been too intense.
On Saturday, the 150 volunteers will be offered a social sofa for the eleventh anniversary, a bench with the logo of the wish ambulance. It will be placed at the entrance of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Den Bosch. After the party there is again, as usual, driving everywhere.
Watch the farewell of Pastor Piet Vissers in the church of Wintelre in this video: