Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
These images show medics operating to remove a fishhook that went through a cyclist’s nose as he was driving through a Dutch city.
Mark Vorsteveld, 45, said he never imagined that he would end up being caught on a fishhook as he cycled through the historic centre of the Dutch city of Kampen.
And he warned that unless the council took action it could happen again, and the next time somebody could go blind.
Speaking local media about what happened he said: “I was cycling over the high tide dike near the Sinke estate, heading to the Albert Heijn (grocery store). I saw that a fisherman made a flick with his rod, and before I knew it I had a line wrapped around my head and suddenly there was something in my nose. It was a bizarre experience, I paused, took my hand up to see what had happened, and then the fisherman came over. He said it had never happened to him before. I mean I literally got hooked in the middle of the city.”
He posted the images of the incident this week on Facebook, saying he had decided to share them because the local council did not seem interested in the problem.
He said: “I first went to the municipality of Kampen with this story. They sent me back to the angling association Ons Vermaak.” The organisation issues all the permits to allow people to fish in the area.
He said time had passed now since the incident at the end of last year, and nothing had happened.
He told local media: “I am definitely not out to attack fishermen, but I want something to happen. I was lucky but only two centimetres higher and I could have been blinded. I don’t even want to think what would have happened if it had been a child.”
He said after he had been impaled on the fishing hook, he had cycled back home and tried to remove it himself.
He told local media: “There was a barb, and I couldn’t just can’t pull it out. Because it was a Sunday, I had to go to the GP post in Zwolle. When I first arrived they wanted me to wait another two hours, although when I was seen it was all over pretty quickly. They put an anaesthetic in my nose and then the doctor took about 20 minutes to remove the hook.”
He was given some cream and sent home. The wound healed quickly, but he was still shocked by what had happened.
Renko van Bodegraven, chairman of the angling association Ons Vermaak, said: “We had contact with Mark and it did take a while to act because it is legally difficult. But we are in consultation with the municipality about this and will do something about it. Fly fishing on the Burgel is not responsible and soon will no longer be possible.”
It might be too late to do anything about the permits which have already been issued for this year, but he pledged “we will certainly adjust that in the permit conditions for next year”.
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