“Nice, touching, horrible, awful, meaningful and meaningless.”
Wiping tears from his eyes, former Roberts Creek resident Vince Verlaan, struggled to find the words Thursday morning, to describe a ceremony the surf community of Huanchaco, Peru, held that day in memory of his son, Camden Verlaan.
In March 2023, Camden was walking back to his apartment in Huanchaco after surfing, when he stepped on a waterfront walkway and was electrocuted. Verlaan says a technical study, photos and videos show no wire that Camden stepped on or that could be seen or stepped over. He says the workers either allowed a live current to travel down a post or the wires they were using for the upgrade ran into the ground, which entered the sidewalk where Camden was walking.
Verlaan, who now lives in North Vancouver, was in Huanchaco last week, to meet with lawyers and prosecutors as part of his ongoing efforts to seek justice for his son.
During a video call with Coast Reporter Oct. 31, Verlaan had just returned from a memorial service, during which surfers paddled out into the water, formed a circle, said a blessing and dropped flowers into the ocean. Verlaan joined the group from the back of a small, woven reed boat, a traditional Peruvian vessel used for fishing.
The day before, he held a press conference in the spot where Camden had died.
“So, yesterday was a hard day, to be honest,” said Verlaan. “Holding the protest-slash-memorial on the waterfront yesterday where he was killed was extremely difficult. There was a priest invited by the local people and he blessed the spot in Camden's memory. And, you know, I'm not religious, but it helped, just the respect people were showing for Camden and knowing he wasn’t forgotten.”
He noted, many members of the local surfing community who attended, were also friends of Camden. As reported by local news outlets at the time, upgrades to the walkway began earlier that day. The question Verlaan wants answered is, why weren’t there any safety warnings in place about the exposed high-voltage cable.
“Many people are upset. Many people knew him. He was very popular. Many of his friends came today, the Peruvians, and certainly the surfer community came out,” said Verlaan. And there was a man who stepped up and spoke about the place and the injustice — and he's representing the surfer community.”
A local TV station was on hand for the press conference and, joining the small crowd were the two mixed-breed dogs Camden had plans to adopt, “Dude” and “Layla.” The 20-year-old had been volunteering at a dog sanctuary in the town, where was also learning Spanish. (Coast Reporter has a copy of the text from the news report, translated into English.)
“They surprised me with the dogs,” said Verlaan. “ I didn’t know they were going to be there, so that was very emotional. I've adopted the two dogs and will be taking them back to North Vancouver.”
Verlaan says after his son’s death, he spent four days in Peru dealing with the “practicalities” of Camden’s death.
“It was the worst four days of my life, of course. And you know, packing up his room and bringing all his belongings back and dealing with the legal and research to document what happened, and leaving his friends,” says Verlaan. “I can barely remember the four days.”
This time around, he added, he was determined to make some headway within the bureaucracy of the Peruvian legal system.
“It’s been more deliberate and structured and I've spent time with the lawyers and quite a lot of time going over all the documentation,” said Verlaan. “And I met with the prosecutor directly and got an update on the criminal case.”
Verlaan added there are two companies named in the criminal case he’s pursuing and he wants the executives in charge to take responsibility for Camden’s death. To date, that has not happened.
“So, it's a bit of a David and Goliath, you know? And until I get across from some of those executives and they take responsibility, that's the way it's going to be. It’s an uphill battle, so I’m letting people know and asking them to support with letters or whatever. I don't even know,” he said, shaking his head.
Camden grew up in Roberts Creek and for much of his life suffered health issues due to complications from celiac disease. After graduating from Horizon alternative school in Sechelt in 2022, Camden started working at the Gumboot Café in Roberts Creek, to save money for his dream trip, initially starting in Peru with plans to meet his dad in Tunisia, Africa, where Verlaan was working.
“As a parent, you spend your 20 years investing in raising them and then they're spreading their wings, and that takes them out, it's just the worst possible thing,” says Verlaan. ”He also had recovered from four or five years of really severe celiac disease and pushed himself to graduate on time and he had recovered physically, socially and emotionally and was getting strong. He was in the gym and was travelling and wanted to live his life and get out of small-town B.C. And here he goes and everything's right. And then this random, senseless, horrible thing happens and it's never, never going to be okay.”
Coast Reporter reached out to Camden's mom, Suzanne Matovic, who declined to comment.
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