Dr Rik Heymans is born in Dendermonde, Flanders, Belgium. He obtained his Medical Doctors’ title in 1987 at the Catholic University at Leuven and went on to do his military service as part of the NATO forces in Germany, near the border with East Germany.

After working and teaching at the University Hospital in Pretoria in 1998, Dr Rik Heymans moved with his wife, Karen, to Nerja. During his childhood, his family spent most summers in this beautiful part of the Costa del Sol, so the choice to move to Nerja was obvious and straightforward enough.

The Surgery started in April 1998 in their private house, with the garden as waiting room! It was the most relaxing and definitely one of the most unusual waiting rooms in Europe, with patients with their families sitting in the shade, with cats and dogs to entertain them… After the birth of their son Hendrik in 1999, it quickly became clear that the pressure of a 24 hour Clinic was not really compatible with a family house, so a new clinic in Calle Angustias,24 was build, where Dr Rik Heymans is still attending to the needs of his patients.

Dr Rik Heymans has, over the years, treated patients of basically any nation or nationality which exists on this planet, and has attended up to 9 different nationalities in one single day!