“I am furious and deeply indignant and have the right to respond: on behalf of all the deceased children who died due to irresponsible driving, including drunk driving. And unfortunately there are a lot of them, as evidenced by our association of fellow sufferers: Parents of Accident Children-SAVE vzw,” is how Hemelaers begins her letter to Tom Waes and his friends and fans.
Last Friday, the VRT presenter drove a vintage Porsche into a crash absorber just before the Kennedy tunnel in Antwerp. He suffered life-threatening injuries and is currently still in hospital. An investigation was immediately launched to determine whether Waes was driving too fast and whether he was possibly under the influence. But on Tuesday the presenter took flight and admitted that he had drunk too much to drive.
“Maybe I should tell you about Kristel, my beautiful 18-year-old daughter who was mowed off the road on December 7, 2001 due to irresponsible driving by a car driver,” Hemelaers continues. “She still had so much future ahead of her. Every year, the day after Sinterklaas, we commemorate her with family and friends, with a torchlight procession in silence and warm togetherness. Since her death, the Sinterklaas celebration has never been the same… And then the news comes in that you crashed into a crash absorber with your classic car. With a Porsche that is… the cliché image par excellence of status, success and speed. Rock and Roll on 4 wheels.”
“Lights of sympathy from a packed Lotto Arena, but unfortunately the worst was yet to come: You were completely drunk when you left the café and got behind the wheel of your car. Where were your (cafe) friends who let you leave without taking your car keys? They are also to blame, because as far as I know, each of us has an obligation to help people who are a danger to themselves and others. Also the café owner and bystanders, who saw you crawling into your car in a drunken state.”
Two beers, please?
“Tom, you have once again played the leading role, this time in a brand new season of ‘The Story of Flanders’. Because this is ‘the real story of Flanders’: tolerance for drunk driving, guilty absenteeism and the many crosses of our children along the Flemish roads.”
“Dos cervezas, por favor? Zero tolerance for alcohol in traffic, agreed. But shouldn’t we all put that zero tolerance into practice ourselves in the first place by being ‘zero-tolerant’ for people who get behind the wheel under the influence? People stand there, watch it and let it happen. With disastrous consequences for families who lost their loved ones at the hands of a drunk.”
“How much irreparable human damage and psychological suffering has this caused? How many sleepless nights…? I hope from the bottom of my heart that you do not have to experience what we, parents of children who have died in accidents, have experienced. The holidays will soon be coming again… fortunately for you and your loved ones without an empty chair at the family table.”
