A married father fell to his death after plunging through a corrugated-sheet roof while working on an outbuilding for his eldest son’s communion.
Dries Soete had spent the morning taking his eldest son to football before surprising his wife with a scented candle, perfume, and roses for Valentine’s Day.
He then decided to spend the afternoon finishing work on the large outbuilding behind their home.
Dries, his wife Dina Vangheluwe and their two sons, aged six and three, had moved into the property just six months earlier.
“The moment we saw the house with the outbuilding, we were both sold,” Dina, 32, told local media. “We wanted to make something beautiful out of it.”
Dina and Dries, 36, had been together for 14 years.
“Five years ago, he decided to run his own crane and groundworks business,” she said. “He wasn’t just fixing up the shed for work – he was mainly preparing it for our eldest son’s communion.”
The tragedy occurred in Beerst, Belgium, while Dina, who works night shifts, was asleep, as reported by Need To Know.
Their youngest son was with his grandmother, and their eldest was at a friend’s house at the time.
“We saw Dries on the roof, trimming ivy, and warned him,” Dina recalled. “We told him to come down because the roof didn’t look sturdy enough.
“‘I know what I’m doing,’ he said. He was walking carefully along the beams under the sheets.”
Later, Dina woke suddenly from a bad dream.
“I called out to Dries, but there was no answer. Then I saw him lying there in that strange position.
“He had fallen through the corrugated sheets of a skylight in the roof. I knew immediately it was serious.
“I called emergency services and my mother straight away. They tried everything to revive him – the medical helicopter was called, medication given, resuscitation efforts continued – but nothing worked.”
This is the second tragedy to strike the family following the death of their middle son, Léon.
Dina spoke of the love of her life: “He worked hard but had decided this year to spend weekends with me and the children. Somehow, it actually happened, and we were so happy.
“Dries was the best father – a man with a golden heart. Always ready to help, always caring, always cracking a joke.”
The roses Dries gave Dina were special ones that dry well. “This way, you can keep them with you forever,” he had told her.
His funeral will be held in nearby Kortemark on Friday (20 February).
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