“I fought like a lion!
These are the last words I heard from Bertrand-Kamal, ”says Diana, his partner on stage in real life.
Sunday, when she saw him for the last time on his hospital bed, in Dijon, the thirty-something just had the strength to tighten his eyes.
Until the end, this dance teacher accompanied this "animation" manager of a holiday club and candidate for "Koh-Lanta", who died of cancer.
“He left us this Wednesday evening at 9.45pm.
The time he usually entered the scene, she adds.
He was a fighter.
He didn't give up. He said to me:
Diana, I love life so much.
I do not want to die.
"
VIDEO. Koh-Lanta: death of Bertrand-Kamal, adventurer of the 2020 season
It was in January, a month after his return from filming in Fiji, that Bertrand-Kamal felt stomach pains.
“He had come to celebrate my birthday.
At that moment, he understood that he had something, ”says his best friend.
The diagnosis falls in March: pancreatic cancer, advanced stage.
"It was already too late," slips William, another close to "Beka", as he is nicknamed.
Operations, chemo, he did everything to overcome his illness.
He was so optimistic that we thought everything would be fine.
I feel guilty… "
This 23-year-old sports coach did not have time to say goodbye to him: “We often spoke on the phone or by text, but he answered less and less.
And with the Covid, it was complicated to go and see it.
Fortunately, his family was very present.
"
"Someone to unite, observe and altruist"
Of his participation in "Koh-Lanta", tour from October to December 2019, Bertrand-Kamal had said nothing to his colleagues.
"He just told us that he had had a crazy adventure and that we would know soon," continues William.
“TV was the dream of his life,” Diana adds.
He was programmed for that.
He would have liked to make a career there.
Viewers found him a bit behind, but he's a real leader.
“In Paris, the boy had trained as an actor, with specialization in one-man-show.
“He even performed at Point-virgule,” says William.
A microphone in hand, he was very loud.
"
The two friends knew Bertrand-Kamal, long before his appearance on TF1.
But always in front of the lights, as animation manager of holiday clubs, such as the Marina Beach in Crete.
“We always had to stand out from the crowd,” Diana recalls.
Get the number 1 hotel up. He wanted to win, he was a very competitive person.
Just by showing his face, he stood out!
"She also remembers that he was very teasing:" Being from Romania, he made fun of my accent all the time.
He had Chinese eyes.
We laughed about it.
"And she adds, her voice filled with emotion:" He always put us in value.
He's a guy who taught us so many things.
"
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Before working for Bertrand-Kamal, William was his student at the Klaxon rouge, the school of animators based in southern Finistère.
“His meeting marked my life, underlines the young sports teacher.
He was a unifier, observant and altruistic, who gave everything to make his team happy.
In the industry, it was a big name.
He put on a cheerful and benevolent atmosphere.
Moreover, it was seen on the screen when he was on the islet of exile with the Greens.
Beka was always at the bottom and managed to transmit his energy to others.
In my opinion, he must have had a third lung.
"