A married couple flees the Netherlands due to a brain disorder: ‘I want to feel useful again’

38-year-old firefighter Gerard and 35-year-old food manager Dennis still live on Gooise Bussum at the beginning of the episode. It’s a sweet idea out there, as the wine is always cold. Until Dennis received vague complaints five years ago. After the birth of their son Stein, she began to see more and more dark spots and soon tired. After several studies, it appears that Dennis has a sinus thrombosis condition. She is forced to stop working and put all her social contacts behind. They put a stent in her head a year ago, but it no longer works properly. Actually, it should be another one, but that’s not possible due to the other complaints you might get.

Denis only feels comfortable during their holidays in Portugal. The choice was made quickly and the family replaced their beautiful 1930s home with a dilapidated farmhouse in the Portuguese village of Alcantrailha. Denise tells her story: “I hope soon I will be able to do things for people at my own pace. I am really looking forward to it, and feel more useful again.”

Everything should be on the bucket from top to bottom. With a construction budget of about 40 thousand euros. However, they are not concerned at all. According to the family, it’s better to regret something you did than to regret something you didn’t! OK, but then there should be enough money for that. And after a few months of hard work, the buffer was completely gone. “Because you have a lot of expenses in the beginning, things go quickly, of course,” Gerrard says.

“In the end, we just asked our parents – I think it’s at least normal – if they could help out temporarily for a couple of months. Just to cover our monthly expenses we still have and to make sure we still had the ability to buy the building the materials we needed.”

The Thiel family has now been living and working in Portugal for over a year and via the website of I’m leaving Let them know they are still busy building. “Every day we come up with something new to make everything look as nice as possible. We are also still working on building our own house, which is coming up little by little. We think it is very important for the guests to have a great stay,” they say.

Dennis is getting better. Sometimes there are days when you’re in poor health, and then it’s all about rest. This is a big job, according to the family. “There will always be things for us to struggle with, but it’s a great learning path and that’s okay. This bumpy road We also rock! “

I’m leaving It can be seen every Saturday at 9:30 PM on NPO1. Watch the episode with the Thiel family here Back.