She would have turned 52 this week, but instead of celebrating her birthday, relatives of Christel Korporaal from Haarlem are in deep mourning. The car she was in last Wednesday, at the height of storm Poly, was hit by a falling tree in Marnixstraat. “I felt how Christel’s soul left her body,” says her partner Martijn, who sat next to her behind the wheel and was unharmed.
Christel’s girlfriends paint a picture of a woman who was ‘spiritual without being airy’, never had prejudices, although no mother herself got along very well with children, was open to others, offered comfort where necessary and always saw the solution and connection laid. People across the country were shocked by her death. It confirms that Christel was loved; not only privately, but also in her social life.
V&D
The Haarlem woman was a saleswoman at V&D until the bankruptcy, first in Schalkwijk and later at Het Verwulft. In recent years she worked at the clothing brand Esprit in Amsterdam. She would start on August 15 at Rituals, where she would organize events.
“It’s unbelievable, she was full of life”
Christel used to play tennis at TV Kontakt, then she did yoga, loved her cats, loved gardening and going out with friends. “She was full of life,” says Monique, one of her friends. “We went to Sardinia together at the end of May. That’s why it’s so hard to comprehend.”
Click
“Still when I read about it, I think: this is about someone else,” says Bo, one of Martijn’s sisters. Immediately upon their first meeting, there was a click between the two women. Bo: “She saw me and said: you are very sensitive. She had an eye for that, Christel was very spiritual. The good thing was that she was not at all pushy. hot woman with whom you couldn’t get into a fight.”
“Chris always thought of others first and then of himself”
Jacqueline and Ageeth are two former V&D colleagues with whom Christel still had a lot of contact. The first describes her as ‘a giver’, as ‘someone who always thought of another before thinking of herself.’ Ageeth remembers Christel as a woman with whom you always felt comfortable and caring. “She did a lot with her mother. Gosh, she’s going to miss her.”
“Chris was very happy that morning, I can still see her laughing and removing the branches from the road”
Christel normally goes to the station by bike on working days. It doesn’t take the day of the storm to convince her that that’s not an option this time. The wind is also blowing with hurricane force in their street in Haarlem-Noord and there are torn branches everywhere.
Martijn: “Chris asked if I wanted to take her to the station by car. According to her, the worst storm was over. Interns would come and she wanted to take care of them. Chris was very cheerful. I can still see her laughing, holding a few branches of take the road.”
Traffic chaos
It’s 8:10 am when they leave. The traffic chaos caused by the storm forces them to take an alternate route to the station. A few minutes later they drive into Marnixstraat, where they join the traffic jam. Martijn realizes that he has to keep space with the car in front of him so that they can accelerate in an emergency and escape from the line.
“I heard her calling: A tree, a tree”
Near the bus stop, traffic comes to a complete standstill when, three minutes after they have left, Christel sees a tree coming towards her on her right. Martijn: “I heard her shout: ‘A tree! A tree!’. In one movement I gave full throttle, I was sent to the left and Chris pulled towards me.”
Panic
The colossus crashes on the part of the roof of the car where Christel is sitting. She can’t move. Martijn remains unharmed by his maneuver. Martijn: “Incredible panic broke out in and around the vehicle. I saw several people standing around the wreckage. I sat next to her for a few minutes with the trauma doctor who saw the accident and rushed to us and felt it. life disappear from her body.”
Cremation
A day before her cremation, Christel’s friends say they take courage from the memories. Jacqueline: “She was so positive. Christel was someone who really celebrated life. The best tribute to her would be if we all enjoy the little things we have. She would have loved that.”
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