Heart patient: Brugada-syndrome (2008, after a sudden death of father) + ARVc (2015, genetic research) Member of the Nucleus ESC Patient Forum (2019-now) Member of the Nucleus ESC Digital Health Committee (2020-now) Member of the Board of The Patients' Embassy of the University of Hasselt (2015-now) Speaker at heart related meetings, Antwerp Hospital University, cardiology (2017-now) Axel has already experienced some (7x) "almost dead" experiences in which his defibrillator literally made the difference between life and death. As a speaker, he explains what it feels like to have such an unpredictable heart disease, and what the implications are of wearing such a device. He does it on a very authentic way that will leave no one untouched. He is surprised at the innovative possibilities but also for the challenges that he sees. Axel aims to build bridges between medical science, on the one hand, and patients and their surroundings on the other.