Henk Wijga has been helping people in need on the water for over forty years. Today he received a ribbon from the mayor of Huizen. “Saving people is in my blood.”
With an excuse Henk was lured to the harbor of Huizen today. “We were going to take a boat trip with a cancer patient through the VaarKracht foundation,” he says. But today the founder of rescue service HOGE himself was put in the spotlight. “I didn’t see this coming,” says a surprised Henk.
He receives the ribbon for his many years of service in the rescue industry. “I think I saved about fifty or sixty people in my life,” says Henk. He finds it only natural to help others. “If you know that a number of people are still walking around on this planet because you were there, that’s fantastic!”
In the video below you can see how mayor Niek Meijer surprised Henk this morning.
Aid organization Gooi- en Eemmeer (HOGE) offers free emergency aid on the water. Henk gives financial support to the rescue service from his company.
Colleagues and friends are extremely proud of Henk. “Well deserved, that ribbon. So much effort, all those years, that had to be rewarded,” says Matthijs Bijl. He has been working with Henk for 27 years at the Gooi- en Eemmeer Aid Organization (HOGE). “I don’t see him as a colleague, but above all as a friend. We go through thick and thin, it’s nice to have someone like Henk next to you on the water,” says Matthijs.
keep food warm
Henk’s wife completely agrees. “I am very proud to have met such a man. Who does something for someone else and always tries to bring it to a successful conclusion,” says Diana Wijga. She takes for granted that he is regularly away from home. “Sometimes the beeper goes off during dinner. Then I say: go boy, I’ll keep your food warm.”
And is he already thinking of slowing down, now that he has a ribbon in his pocket? “Haha, definitely not. I’ll keep going until I drop,” says Henk, who turned 70 at the beginning of this year. “And if I can no longer go out on my own, I can always continue to contribute my boats and my knowledge.”