One of my closest friends and my right hand at Jil Sander is Patrick. This year Patrick’s boyfriend had two heart operations. They were very risky operations that were really a matter of life or death. I know a lot of people but I don’t know anyone like him. His attitude in these difficult circumstances has been quite extraordinary. He’s a very exceptional person.
I have to tell his story because I haven’t been through this type of situation. Luckily I haven’t lost anybody close to me.
My outlook on life is very different from his; he’s the sort of person who turns everything around, who always looks at the positive side of a situation.
I know this because he had to be at work on the two days of the operations, but his attitude on both those days was “Let’s make it a fantastic day”. There was not even a doubt in his mind that his boyfriend would not be ok.
It’s had such an impact on me. We were working together everyday and Patrick was so positive. I would have been so different if I had been in his position. When I asked him how he could be so positive and so strong at such a difficult time he said, “I learnt from my mum.” He comes from a medical family so he believes in the hands of doctors. On the day of one of the operations when I asked him, “Are you a bit ok?” He replied, “Of course I’m ok. I believe in love. I believe in the future and I believe in science.”
It has just changed my whole way of how to behave and how to look at things. On the one hand I’m thinking ‘My god, you’re such a strong person…’ If you have people like him around you, it gives you such a good energy. For me this is the essence of feeling safe and sound, the fact that there are always people in this world to get you through things, and people who are there for you… it’s the ultimate.
