Who is Eddie Wolfswinkel

Eddie Wolfswinkel - forester walks for children with Lyme Disease

My name is Eddie Wolfswinkel. I was born in the Netherlands and raised in the small town of Bunnik, near Utrecht. As a young boy I loved being outdoors, exploring the beautiful woods near our home and hiking with my parents. After secondary education, I took a degree in professional countryside management and it simply fit me like a glove.

As of 2014, after my training, I worked as a national park ranger for Staatsbosbeheer, the Dutch governmental green heritage organisation, on one of the beautiful islands of North of Holland. Beautiful indeed, but ticks everywhere! On average, I had to remove 50 ticks a year from my body. Unfortunately, my contract only lasted three years, after which I was appointed national park ranger in Schouwen-duiveland, in the southwestern part of the Netherlands. It was then that I was affected by symptoms of Lyme’s disease: fatigue, irregular heart beat and impaired vision. As there were hardly any signs of ticks in this part of the country, I must have contracted the disease in my former working environment.

I am now slowly recovering. I changed my diet and feel a lot better than I used to, back in 2019. I used to wake up in the morning feeling tired, but would now be up to an occasional party (who wouldn’t!).

It is only when you start feeling better that you realise how low you felt earlier on. Light physical chores felt like hard labour at the time. The realisation of what life has to offer, both in the positive and the negative sense, brought back my longing to travel, which had always been slumbering in my mind but was put aside when I was offered the position in Terschelling. At the same time, it dawned on me that life can be short and that the time had come to realise my dreams.

I was very impressed after watching a documentary about a man who made a long-distance hike and bike trip. The man travelled without burdening the earth, which was quite an achievement. I decided that this would be my goal, too. I found out that there are quite a few long-distance routes throughout Europe. Travel outside of Europe was out of the question: it would imply an airline flight, which would not help save the earth.

Europe has plenty of beautiful spots. Eventually, I decided to walk back home, starting from the Italian island of Sicily. A close friend of mine will drive me there and I will start my journey back home from there on my own, via Rome, Venice, Austria, the Black Forest and the city of Hannover in Germany, arriving back in Holland in Arnhem, near the border. An interesting challenge, comprising 3000 kilometers and six months of travel.

As my journey approaches, I exercise regularly and have in the meantime gathered all the necessary gear. I considered that it would be nice to add a genuine achievement to my trip, an initiative of my own, which would really make a difference to others. Bringing back to mind the period of Lyme’s disease I had had to fight my way through, I decided that I wanted to help fellow victims of the disease. More research would have to be done.

I made a call to the Stichting Tekenbeetziekten, the Dutch Lyme foundation, and was told that there were plans to start up a clinic for children with Lyme’s disease. This was not what I had in mind initially. The main thing needed in my opinion was more research, as so little is known about the disease.

However, it is children who are really victimised by Lyme’s disease. Children love to play outdoors and enjoy nature, as I used to as a child. For the children affected by Lyme’s disease, this is a mere dream.

Therefore, I have decided to direct my focus on these children. The goal of my trip will be to raise funds for the establishment of a Lyme’s disease treatment clinic for children.