Kiswana Koelewijn felt powerless, but is now over the moon: the bridesmaid dress has been found. An observant bus driver had seen it in the water near Zaandam center and from the news reports Dave de Jong knew that this must be Kiswana’s dress: “I sent my son out to quickly get the dress out of the water and from a hotel employee, this was successful.”
When Kiswana got the news, she was still cautious: “I wanted to be very happy, but I was also nervous. I really thought: is this happening? Is this really my dress?” Kiswana immediately got into the car with her stepfather, the groom-to-be, and drove from Heerhugowaard to Zaandam.
Wet
“We hung the dress at home and immediately dried it with a hair dryer,” says Dave. Miraculously, despite the inclement weather, the dress is undamaged and only wet. “I have no words for it,” says Kiswana. Her mother, who is getting married tomorrow, is also happy. “We really screamed together.”
At first Kiswana thought she might have lost the dress on the train between Leiden and Zaandam. It now appears that the bag with the dress has been blown off the pram. It was a stormy day and Kiswana, who is from Huizen, was looking for where to go.
Her stepfather, who was on the phone, is also unknown in Zaandam. He comes from Heerhugowaard and did not know exactly where to pick up Kiswana and her son. He said it was a chaotic situation. “She just didn’t notice that the dress had blown away,” he says understandingly. He is grateful that the dress is justified: “We see it as a miracle from God.”
‘Touched by people’
Besides Dave, more people have seen the dress float and NH Nieuws received several tips. Her search was widely shared. Kiswana: “The fact that you still see love, that people help each other, that touches me very much.” Rain or wind, the wedding tomorrow can’t go wrong. “I’m happy and relieved to be able to wear the dress I’ve been waiting for all those nights.”