David (35) built a career in the hospitality industry after studying accountancy, a social study, and attending the secondary and higher Hotel School. He moved to Amsterdam, where he was the manager of a large hospitality business at Rembrandt Square for eight years. After that, he opened his own place, Bar Hendrik, in Amsterdam-Zuid. "We've had huge highs, but also deep lows, especially during corona," he says. Eventually, he sold the business and went back to work as a manager. Not long after, in April 2025, a snowboarding accident changed his life.

During a winter sports holiday with friends, David fell hard. He sustained an incomplete spinal cord injury at the level of his eighth thoracic vertebra (T8). He also broke twelve ribs and three vertebrae and suffered a punctured lung.

"I've been snowboarding for years and I'm quite a good snowboarder, but I wasn't wearing a back protector."

David was aware of the existence of back protectors. Still, he didn't wear one. "You think: that won't happen to me." 

Due to his spinal cord injury, he had to say goodbye to the job he enjoyed so much. David loved the contact with people, but also the entrepreneurship. "I found the social aspect super fun, but there’s also a commercial side that I found interesting. That was really my thing. But what I did, I can no longer do. In the hospitality industry, you stand and walk all day. That just doesn't work anymore."

After his accident, David also had to leave his home. He had lived happily for eleven years in an apartment on the third floor in Amsterdam's Scheldestraat, but after his accident, it was no longer suitable due to the stairs. He now lives in a wheelchair-accessible home with a garden. "That has ultimately become a really nice place.""I'm very happy about that." 

Looking back on his own accident, there are two messages that David finds important to share.

"Wear a back protector. Whether you're skiing, snowboarding, motorcycling, or horseback riding, it doesn't matter."

Additionally, he warns parents to keep a close eye on their children in shallow water. During his rehabilitation at De Hoogstraat in Utrecht, he met several people who suffered a high spinal cord injury due to a diving accident. "A high spinal cord injury often has much greater consequences, for example, for hand function. I think it's important to warn people about that."

David's recovery is still very much in progress. "It's just over a year ago now, and I still notice progress. That's what I'm focusing on now."His days are largely focused on recovery. "I train, go to physiotherapy about three times a week, swim, and follow various therapies. In addition, I've started with stocks to get the hang of it. I keep myself busy."

He also follows the developments in research for a solution to spinal cord injuries with great interest, although he remains realistic. "Of course, I hope that a medicine will come. But I also know how slowly the medical world sometimes moves, especially in Europe. And because my spinal cord injury is incomplete and I am still recovering, I would also find it exciting to participate in an experimental treatment right now. But I am certainly confident that there will one day be a medicine or other solution."