‘Salvation and the bullet that should have killed me’
Empangeni K9 Search and Rescue officer Adriaan de Villiers tells his tale of loyalty, bravery and finding God
FOURTEEN years ago, Adriaan de Villiers stared down the barrel of a loaded gun with the muzzle centimetres from his forehead and watched the man pull the trigger.
But the gun misfired and Adriaan, a 25 year veteran of the South African Police Service, lived to tell his tale of loyalty, bravery and finding God.
More affectionately known as ‘Bart’ after the infamous Simpsons cartoon character, the 45-year-old celebrated his 25 year service anniversary on Friday.
Seated in a small office shared with other members of the Empangeni K9 Unit, he spoke to the Zululand Observer about his experience as a policeman, life and how he came to find his faith.
Today Adriaan serves as a member of the K9 Search and Rescue unit with his dog Troy, who is mostly used for finding missing persons, shallow grave detection, survivors in collapsed structures and more amazingly, the location of drowned victims in dams and rivers.
As his master, the four-legged officer also has no fear of heights, and is used in high-angle rope access rescue operations and swift water rescue.
Adriaan is also one of only two officers in KZN to hold both Search and Rescue and police diving qualifications. Nationally, there are only 49 Search and Rescue officers, of whom nine share his skill set.
Together with other members of the Empangeni K9 unit, which serves 22 police stations from Umhlali to Pongola, he is often at the forefront of some of the most desperate rescue operations.
The keen biker riding for the Christian Motorcycle Association, bass player in his church band and a loving father and devoted husband, Adriaan openly chats about tougher times, and the day that eventually changed his life forever.
‘The late Andrew Jansen, who was a man who served the Lord, was hijacked in Durnford Road in 2002. I was on duty at the time and responded to the call.
‘At the time, we had no idea where the suspects had taken him. As we were deciding in which direction to give chase, a call came in from a concerned motorist who had seen the car driving erratically out towards Macekane Reserve,’ he said.
‘Everything fell in place. Every person we stopped pointed us in the right direction.’
They quickly caught up with the suspect, and during the subsequent arrest, Adriaan came face to face with a man who could have killed him.
‘The bullet casing showed how the hammer had dropped, hitting the firing pin dead on,’ he said. ‘It looked like a spent shell, but the bullet was intact. It never fired.’
For years, the bullet was displayed in his bar, where friends and colleagues would examine it and pronounce him lucky.
‘It took me a while, but eventually I realised it wasn’t luck. The Lord intervened that day.’
Soon after the realisation hit home, Adriaan gave himself to the Lord and has lived his life differently ever since.
He is now in his first year studying theology, part of an intense desire to give back through the Lord.
Happily married to his wife of 17 years, Verona, who is also an avid biker, and their daughter Cayla who is 16, one can rest easy knowing Adriaan and the other members of Search and Rescue will never cease in their search.
