This Saturday, Jeroen De Smet died while returning from a carnival near Oudenaarde-Sainte-Marie. He was going there with his partner Ilse, who returned earlier than him. He sent her a few messages afterwards, but it was the police who arrived at Ilse’s door at 2 a.m., letting him immediately understand that the worst had happened.
“When the police show up at your door in the middle of the night, you know something bad has happened,” says Ilse. And in fact, Jeroen dropped his mobile phone in a manhole and then tried to retrieve it. In doing so, he inhaled gases which knocked him unconscious. He then no longer had the strength to extricate himself from the sewer and drowned.
Insufficient aid
“A couple passing by tried to help him and called for help, but it wasn’t enough. We don’t know who these people are, but we would like to contact them and thank them for the help they tried to provide,” says Ilse.
On the parents’ side, it’s a shock: “We were close to returning home after a holiday in the Ardennes when the police appeared at the door of our caravan to announce Jeroen’s death. Don’t ask me how we drove the three hours back home. »
An inseparable couple
“For eleven years, we did everything together. He was always there for everyone. That he died after a night out with his friends is my only consolation,” Ilse concludes. The farewell ceremony in honor of Jeroen will take place on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in the church of Oudenarde-Saint-Marie.