Passing on the values of first aid

After spending ten years trying to decipher its secrets, Thomas Ver Eecke no longer perceives the ocean in the same way. First aid flows through the veins of the 30-year-old native of Pittem, Belgium, a lifeguard at sea and an ambulance driver on dry land. The key is training. Repeat the movements until your body does them instinctively, he observes. This adventurer, who loves to meet new people, seems to have definitely found his place. Since I started lifeguarding, I've never known a day in which I didn't want to go to work.

If today he leads his dream life, the rescuer was initially headed in a completely different direction. He spent his childhood on a farm, with his parents who were farmers. He owes his determination, his independence and his working strength to them. I had a lot of freedom, but my parents worked a lot, so if I wanted to do something, I had to do it on my own.

At that age, he had only one idea in mind: to become an airplane pilot. At least until that day in 1997... His mother surprised him by taking him to a flight demonstration. On the road, the music playing on the car radio was suddenly interrupted by a news flash. One of the planes had just crashed into the crowd. The smoke, the victims... I still remember the frightening images on TV. Had they arrived a few minutes earlier, it could have been them. It was from this tragedy that the idea began to grow: I wanted to know how to save them.

Everything changed the year he turned 17. Thomas divided his summer between the farm and a factory job. Having taken a day off, the young man went to the beautiful beach in Knokke-Heist, Belgium. That's what I want to do, he said determinedly to his mother pointing at the lifeguards. In training, he quickly distinguished himself. For better or worse. On the first day, there was an exercise where you had to swim dressed. I arrived in jeans and a sweatshirt when the others were wearing technical and light materials. I jumped into the water, and I immediately sank..., he smiles.

Determined, Thomas is also a generous and charismatic personality who can't help but throw himself into things. Even if it means forgetting his wellbeing? For the final exam, I had to swim several hundred meters carrying a weight of 80 kilos, I gave it my all that when I got out of the pool, I fainted, he remembers. He immediately adds, Once I woke up, I immediately asked: 'Did I pass the exam?' Begins a seasonal life that he divides between a daily life as a first aid worker on the Belgian coast, and that of a business management student in Ghent before realizing that he was only happy when outdoors.

Thomas bought a caravan and put it there, facing the North Sea. Running, swimming, repeating first aid procedures... He ignores apprehension and trains constantly. The years go by, he is now a brigade leader. I think being a mentor is the most important thing for me today. Bringing out the best in others, passing it on, that's my greatest pride. Unless pressed, he has difficulty recounting lost lives. Of course, setbacks sometimes happen. Half-heartedly, the rescuer recounts the heart massages, the cries of the families, and the sleepless nights that follow. Yet, he says, You shouldn't hesitate to talk to someone about the tough moments you’re faced with.

What's next? The rescuer sees it in the short term. His visa for Australia - where he lives now - will expire in 2022 and will certainly force him to return to his native Belgium. I'm getting more and more worried about what I'll do, off-season once I get back. He reflects, with only one certainty: I will continue to pass on and instill the values of the profession. And save lives.

Since 2003, AXA has taken great pride in being a partner of the 1,400 Belgian rescuers who are true ambassadors of risk prevention. Thanks to the bracelets distributed to children on the beach, AXA and IKWV together ensure that children do not get lost. In 2020, rescuers saved no less than 594 people and 1,079 children/parents were able to find their parents/children.