Story
Menno Streefland
My Story
My name is Menno Streefland. I was born on June 2, 1995 in Nijmegen. After studying Business Administration, Management, Economics and Law, I worked as a recruiter and account manager and eventually as a business developer. I am an avid winter sports enthusiast. Just like you.
The accident
In the second weekend of January 2023, I went skiing with some friendly colleagues on the Austrian slopes of the Zillertal Arena. On a sunny Saturday morning, I fell hard during a descent. I had hit an ice patch, which caused me to lose my balance and fly off the side of the slope. I fell about 10 meters and landed on a hard surface. Once in the snow, I realized I could no longer move my lower body. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. In panic, I called my friendly colleagues, parents, and girlfriend, asking if a helicopter could please come…
After a flight of less than 18 minutes by helicopter, I arrived at the hospital in Innsbruck. I was operated on immediately. It turned out I had a shattered vertebra, which was replaced during surgery with a spinal fusion (a kind of bridge).
The doctor told my family that there was no chance of recovery: my lower body would remain paralyzed for the rest of my life. But when I woke up from my anesthesia the next morning, to my amazement, I felt some sensation in my legs! The spinal cord injury turned out to be incomplete, which meant recovery was indeed possible! But the question then, and still now, is how far will my recovery go?
The Rehabilitation
In total, I spent two weeks in the hospital in Innsbruck. After that, I was transferred to the Radboud UMC in Nijmegen. There, I stayed for another two weeks until a bed became available for me at De Hoogstraat, a rehabilitation clinic in Utrecht.
Ultimately, I followed an intensive and inpatient rehabilitation process until the end of May, which is about three and a half months. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, swimming lessons, social work, driving lessons, cooking classes… They even taught me how to dress myself independently.
Six weeks after the accident, there was movement in my left big toe. The beginning was there, and that gave me a lot of motivation. To this day, I train intensively – and make progress. Want to follow my recovery process? You can do so via my Instagram account @mennostreefland.
The idea "Spines"
I can and am allowed to train day in and day out for my recovery. I am very aware that this is a huge privilege.
In the Netherlands, healthcare is so well organized, and that contributes to the recovery. I have already regained several functions in my lower body.
I am still far from where I hope and want to be, but we are on the right track. Thanks in part to your help and donations.
Unfortunately, there are many people for whom this is not the case. And of course, I would also want to recover 100% again.
To make this possible, but also to prevent more people from having to go through what happened to me, I started SPINES. I develop and sell back protectors for intensive sports like skiing and snowboarding, but also horseback riding and cycling. I have now gathered a small team around me so that together we can ensure that even more people go up the mountain safely.
Wearing a helmet is already very common among Dutch people, but a back protector is not yet.
We hope to change that by also raising more awareness. With every purchase, money is donated to spinal cord injury research.
Because, unfortunately, to this day, there is still no medicine or solution.
Die Reise nach China
Die erste Reise nach China fand im Sommer 2024 für den Einkauf der ersten Saison statt. Nach einer erfolgreichen ersten Saison mit 12.000 verkauften Rückenprotektoren und einer Spendensumme von 180.000€ sind wir im März 2025 mit den Erfahrungen des ersten Winters zurückgekehrt! Eigentlich gefiel der
Rückenprotektor allen fantastisch, dennoch gab es einige Anpassungen:
Ein luxuriöseres Klettband, ausführlichere Broschüren mit Erklärungen zum Produkt, zusätzliche Informationen zu den Spenden.
Auch war das chinesische Neujahr ein sehr schwieriges Thema bezüglich Lagerverwaltung und Erreichbarkeit. Deshalb haben wir für die kommende Saison die Reise vorgezogen und sind somit schon früher nach China gereist, um den Einkauf rechtzeitiger zu regeln, sodass Kunden diesen Winter keine Vorbestellung mehr machen müssen.
Neben dem inzwischen bekannten schwarzen Rückenprotektor, dem Spines Original, haben wir ab dem kommenden Winter auch die Specials mit verschiedenen Prints.
Manche Menschen zweifeln manchmal an der Qualität bei der Produktion in China. Ich möchte Ihnen gerne sagen, dass dies nicht am Land liegt, sondern am verwendeten Material. Spines produziert mit hochwertigem Stoff, den richtigen Reißverschlüssen und Gummis für eine optimale Verarbeitung. Ein Produkt, das sich luxuriös anfühlt, ist luxuriös, weil die richtigen Materialien verwendet wurden; ein Handwerker braucht auch die richtigen Schrauben.
Unsere Fabrik in China wird von einem Ehepaar im Alter von 49 Jahren geleitet. Im Sommer 2025 werden sie uns in den Niederlanden besuchen.
Nicht weil es für das Produkt wichtig ist. Sondern weil es etwas Besonderes ist, dass wir gemeinsam versuchen, ganz Niederlande (und hoffentlich eines Tages ganz Europa) sicherer den Berg hinaufzubringen.
The Purpose of Spines
I can and am allowed to train day in and day out for my recovery. I am very aware that this is a huge privilege. Healthcare is so well organized in the Netherlands! I have already regained several functions in my lower body.
But there are plenty of people for whom that is not the case. And of course, I would also want to recover 100% again.
To make this possible, but also to prevent more people from having to go through what I have experienced, I started SPINES. I develop and sell back protectors for intensive sports like skiing and snowboarding, but also horseback riding and cycling. Wearing a helmet is already very common among the Dutch, but a back protector is not yet. I hope to change that by raising more awareness. And with every purchase, money is donated to spinal cord injury research. Because to this day, there is still no medicine or solution.
We got your back
Our Story
I now work with a small team to
to ensure that as many people as possible are safely up the mountain. After a
fantastic season 24/25 thanks to you we are very motivated to continue next year
season to get even more people safely up the mountain and thanks to these purchases
once again I was able to donate a nice amount.
Together with Merijn Stapert and Veerle Rutjes we work
We work on this every day. That's why we came up with the idea that a back protector is not only safe,
can also be quite hip! Hence our
special editions next season.
We are also in various places in the Netherlands
can be found in the shops and we are working on it every day with great enthusiasm.
growing and learning from each other and from you!