Laughing and joking as sunlight pours into his apartment, Dennis Van Asch does not sound like someone who recently cheated death after falling off a cliff at Għajn Tuffieħa.
[attach id=198314 size="medium"]Memory loss: Dennis in his neck brace with his flatmates who helped to rescue him, Macarena Vazquez (left) and Manuel Yera. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli[/attach]
I’m lucky to be alive. Initially the medical staff thought I wasn’t going to make it
But six weeks after he was airlifted to Mater Dei hospital following a risky night-time rescue operation, the Dutchman still wears a neck brace and bears deep scars under his hair.
“I’m lucky to be alive. Initially the medical staff thought I wasn’t going to make it,” said Mr Van Asch, turning serious for moment.
For a few days he could not breathe by himself and the swelling on his brain would not go down.
He also had a broken neck, cracked skull, and he needed a blood transfusion after falling21 metres through a large crack in the cliff onto the rocky seashore during a sunset barbecue on April 20.
A known prankster, no one saw him fall and at first his friends thought he was joking. But when the horrible truth dawned, five of them scrambled down to the shore to find him, including his Marsascala flatmates, Macarena Vazquez and Manuel Yera.
“He was on his back, bent over a big rock, and I thought for sure his back was broken,” Ms Vazquez said.
“I thought he was dead,” added Mr Yera.
After finding his pulse, his friends stayed with Mr Van Asch at the water’s edge till he was taken to hospital by a helicopter from the Italian Military Mission.
Despite his dramatic two-hour rescue, which also involved Civil Protection, the Armed Forces, police and a Mater Dei medical team, Mr Van Asch has no recollection of his fall or the aftermath.
“That’s probably a good thing, I have enough memories already,” Mr Van Asch joked.
Mr Van Asch spent one week in Mater Dei’s Intensive Care Unit and two weeks in the NeuroSurgical Ward.
During that time he received cards from well-wishers all over the world who had learned of his accident thanks to a campaign on social media and the ‘Couchsurfing’ website led by his friend Jeff Muscat.
After being discharged, he flew to the Netherlands to spend three weeks recuperating with his family before returning to Malta on Tuesday.
“I went to Mater Dei on Wednesday and thanked as many people as I could for their professional care and patience,” he said.
Mr Van Asch still gets a little dizzy, but his neck brace will be removed soon and he is expected to make a full recovery.
Last night, a ‘Back to Life’ party organised by friends was planned to be held at Zion Bar in Marsascala. Armed Forces and Civil Protection personnel were expected to attend and Mr Van Asch was looking forward to thanking them, as well as everyone who had supported him over the past few weeks.
Has his brush with death changed his perspective on life?
“I’ve always been an open-minded, positive person who likes to make the most of life – so that won’t change. But I won’t attempt to fly again”.