Miss Belgium Chayenne Van Aarle (23) has responded for the first time since her serious traffic accident on Tuesday. ‘It’s a miracle that I came off so lightly,’ she says from her sickbed.
Chayenne Van Aarle drove on Tuesday afternoon on the E17 in the direction of Antwerp, just before the Kruibeke exit, at high speed into a slowing truck. Her car was reduced to scrap and Van Aarle was trapped. The emergency services were able to free her after more than half an hour.
A day after the accident she tells her story: ‘I’m still in intensive care and have a lot of headaches, but all in all I’m doing well.’ The physical damage is not too bad considering the seriousness of the accident: a concussion, a few cuts in the face, some bruised vertebrae, bruised lungs and a black eye.
The photos of the accident also suggest that she was lucky. And Van Aarle himself realizes this: ‘It is a miracle that I came off so lightly.’
The Miss Belgium drove into a slowing truck on Tuesday.
Photo: Yoni Proot
The exact circumstances of the accident are still under investigation. Van Aarle herself does not know exactly what happened, but she denies the rumors that she would have looked at her mobile phone. ‘People immediately think that, but it’s not true.’
‘Too much pressure’
According to her, stress and fatigue may have played a role. “I don’t remember it all, but when I think about it now, I think I know what the problem was,” it sounds. “The balance in my life was not right. There was too much pressure and I thought too much about what people thought of me.’
If her condition remains stable, Van Aarle can leave the hospital on Thursday. She was normally expected at the final of Miss Belgium 2023 on Saturday. She would pass on her crown to a new miss, but due to her injuries she will probably not be able to attend the event. “Secretly I still hope so, but I’ll let the doctors decide.”
