1/4 Ivgy in action during Camp van Koningsbrough (Photo: AVROTROS)
Evge Dressen (40) from Helmond is a participant in the new season of Kamp van Koningsbrugge. In the TV show, she and fourteen other participants follow grueling training to become commandos. “At some point I thought: if I lose consciousness now, then I will be done with everything.”
Swimming in ice water, making a campfire and getting some sleep. Candidates are completely pressed physically and mentally to see who is fit for the commandos.
Many people would prefer to curl up in the hammock again at the sight of such extreme experiences. But Ivgy started to itch when she watched the first season of the show. “I thought: wow, that’s cool. Can I do that too?” she asked.
“I started training seven days a week.”
In daily life, Evji works as a pharmacist’s assistant and runs an online bracelet store with her husband. The contrast with the leadership profession is great. “My husband is in the Air Force, formerly of the Air Mobile Brigade. I’ve heard so many stories from him, but I also wanted to experience it myself. I wanted to know if I could handle it, too.”
I decided to take the lead. “I crate and start training seven days a week. I walk with a backpack, run, make a fire, and also dive into the woods at night to learn how to sail.”
She dropped out for the second season of Kamp van Koningsbrugge, but was chosen from over a thousand applications for a third. “My dream has come true,” says Ivji with a broad smile.
“I suddenly started hallucinating at night during one of the trips.”
The tasks were difficult for the athletic Evgi. “We didn’t have a moment of relief. I felt like everything we did was bad. I often fell short. In those moments, you really come across yourself.”
Mentally it was kind of hell for her. “I suddenly started hallucinating at night during a trip,” she says, laughing. “I saw everything from a wolf to a wild dog. In the end it just turned out to be a twig.”
She also suffered a lot physically. “Giving up isn’t an option for me. But at some point I thought: If I pass out now, it’s all over, it’s over. I had a blemish on my shoulder, I’m covered in bruises and I’m missing two toenails.”
“My limit is now miles away.”
She doesn’t regret sharing it, but she wouldn’t recommend it to anyone either. “No, but it was a very nice experience. Think of it as giving birth, you also look forward to it. When the time comes, you die, it’s not really fun. Now that I’m fully recovered, I would like again.”
Participation in the program was a difficult and difficult lesson. “My limit is no longer where it was before. It’s miles away now.”
The new season of Kamp van Koningsbrugge starts on Thursday at half past eight on NPO 1. In addition to Eefje, three other people from Brabant are taking part: Mehdi (28, Den Bosch), Stegen (24, Pödel) and Marty (30, Sint Wilbrord).
“Unable to type with boxing gloves on. Freelance organizer. Avid analyst. Friendly troublemaker. Bacon junkie.”