Douwe got the fright of his life: ‘Suddenly my daughter (4) was no longer on the sled’

Douwe (38), married to Femke (31), father of 3 children aged 10, 7 and 0.

“On a beautiful cold winter day I wanted to skate from our Frisian hometown to Dokkum. Our daughter Aukje, who was four years old at the time, wanted to go on the sled. My wife Femke didn’t like it at first, but oh well, what could happen? I put Aukje on a thick ski suit and put her on the sled that I was going to pull. Very cosy, together. I told her to hold on to the sled. She wasn’t scared at all, had a lot of fun on the back and kept shouting: ‘Louder!’

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empty sled

I needed all my concentration to skate and did not notice that it had been quiet for a while and that my ‘package’ had become a lot lighter. Not until I passed someone who yelled, “Hey, are you out with an empty sled?” I saw that my daughter was no longer on it. I was frightened to death. I immediately turned to look for her. I had to go back a kilometer, the longest meters of my life.

Finally I saw her sitting in a mountain of snow. Aukje calmly told how she had fallen from the sled: she had let go for a while and was
then flew off, and landed right in a hump of snow. Before she had recovered from the shock, I had already turned the corner. Fortunately, she hadn’t panicked, but had thought: I’ll just sit here, Dad will probably come get me again. Just four, but wise enough not to go out and wander yourself. I have never been so happy to see her.”

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