Dedicated to the industry that saved my son
Olivier Kerckhove, Director at Real Life Sciences, France and Benelux explains how a 1 in 66,000 experience changed his outlook and makes him proud to be part of the life sciences industry.
At the heart
I’ve been with Real Life Sciences for 14 years, and over the years I’ve seen the amazing impact the people we represent have had on the life sciences industry and the treatments available.
But it was only when my own son, Jules who was three weeks old at the time, became seriously ill that I saw first hand how advances in the life sciences industry can change the outlook for a family.
It all started when Jules had a severe cold, as he was so small we took him to the hospital where he stayed for weeks under observation. Eventually, doctors worked out his trachea was more than 90% compressed. They operated immediately and we spent three months at the hospital while he recovered.
One in 66,000
The odds were so small, it’s hard to believe that Jules was that one person to have this, doctors said they’d never dealt with this sort of case before. It was the unknown, and seeing Jules suffer, that was the hardest. We had complete faith in the team and the treatments he was receiving and now doctors have assured us he will make a full recovery by the time he is one to two years old.
Thinking back about our journey, it was the heart surgeon and his team who saved little Jules’ life, and they were able to do their jobs to such a high standard thanks to the tools they use – many of which have been developed by companies we know well at Real Life Sciences.
I know that one day Jules will ask me what I do for a living. When he does, I’m going to tell him that I change people’s lives, by helping wonderful people find a new job to contribute to the development of new medicines and tools that are used by doctors and surgeons around the world. It might only be a small part of the life sciences industry, but I am honoured to be a part of it.
