Fleeing a country at war, finding life, sight, housing: the year 2022 will have been punctuated by rescues and mutual aid, resurrections, revelations, but also crossed and turned upside down destinies.
All these people we met marked the news with their incredible actions.
Back to the most beautiful stories you have read in Le Parisien this year.
1. Black woman and senior civil servant, Laëtitia Helouet breaks a “double glass ceiling”
This 46-year-old black woman now heads the School of International Studies in Paris.
In January 2022, she testified in the documentary "Blacks in France" broadcast on France 2, which gives the floor to several black personalities.
Laëtitia grew up in a housing estate in Reims.
A very good student, she enters second in a prestigious high school in the city center, and feels out of step with her classmates because of her background and her skin color.
She then dreams of joining the senior civil service.
In 2016, she was the only black woman to sit on the Court of Auditors.
Since then, she has chaired Le Club XXIe siècle, an association working for equal opportunities.
She's testifying for Source Code.
2. The Morins, a couple recognized as “Just” by Israel
The Yvelinois Julienne and Aurélien Morin were honored in February, posthumously, for their act of bravery during the Second World War.
They had taken in a Jewish child, Henri Dauman, who years later became an American star of photojournalism.
This recognition is the result of a long investigation, improbable encounters and a succession of strokes of luck which brought Henri Dauman and Sonia Morin, granddaughter of the “Righteous”, into contact.
When the photojournalist returns to Limay, where he spent part of his childhood, Élodie Bergeron, the city's archivist, sets out to find the descendants of Julienne and Aurélien to put together the Yad Vashem file
(the committee that studies applicants for the title of Righteous)
.
Like a bottle in the sea, it launches an appeal in the local press.
In March 2018, a few hundred kilometers away, a sixty-year-old embarked on her family's family tree.
She types “Morin-Limay” into Google and comes across the call for witnesses.
Sonia Morin, speechless, then discovers the story of her grandparents and the identity of this mysterious little boy mentioned by his mother.
>> Read here the rest of
the story of the Morins and Henri Dauman
3. Anastasiia and Kira, Ukrainian refugees welcomed by Antoine
They were among the first Ukrainian refugees to arrive in France.
Anastasiia and her daughter, Kira, 6, suffering from autism, were welcomed in March by Antoine, in Suresnes, in the Hauts-de-Seine.
Antoine and Anastasiia met on Tinder three months earlier, when the young woman was in Paris for the New Year. Since then, they have had a long-distance relationship that the war has precipitated in the young man's tiny apartment.
“I didn't hesitate for a second,” he says, even if he had to sleep in the bathroom.
It was by bus that he went to pick up the mother and her daughter at Beauvais airport.
>> Find here
the whole story of Anastasiia and Antoine
4. Caroline Ida Ours, the 61-year-old model who breaks the clichés about her generation
She's the woman with long gray hair posing in the latest campaign for lingerie brand Darjeeling.
Caroline Ida for the #CommeJeSuis advertising campaign for the lingerie brand Darjeeling.
“I have fat on my stomach.
When I sit down, it makes two little rolls, despite Pilate and yoga (…)”, she says in her book released last spring, “Silver Generation: without taboos or limits”.
Propelled recently into the light, Caroline Ida surprises herself at the turn her life is taking.
It must be said that just five years ago, this separated woman, mother of two grown children - who are now 29 and 33 - led a very ordinary life, working in the Paris region in the small business created by her dad.
Then, for ten years, in a leather goods brand where, as a salesperson, she flirted with
“
bore-out”
(boredom at work).
It took him a stroke and a prolonged stay in the hospital for Caroline Ida to be reborn.
His project ?
“Breaking the invisibility of women over 50.
»
>> Read
Caroline Ida's story here
5. Garbage collectors save a baby from the flames
A crew of garbage collectors took all the risks after the explosion of a scooter battery in an apartment in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (Val-de-Marne), in February.
Around 6:30 a.m., the crew makes its rounds.
"We were collecting the trash when we heard a big boom," says Florian Gallon.
We immediately saw the flames.
The latter escape from an apartment located on the first floor and are already beginning to lick the one above.
The three crossers don't think.
“We asked the driver to call the fire department and then we drove off.
They rescue a baby and help the parents down.
According to a neighbor, without their intervention, the results would have been “catastrophic”.
>> Read here
the story of the heroic garbage collectors
6. EuroMillions winner donates most of his winnings to save the planet
He hit the jackpot, 200 million euros, by winning the EuroMillions jackpot one fine day in December 2020, and… chose to give it all, or almost, a few months later!
The second biggest winner in France in the history of EuroMillions, whom La Française des jeux calls "Guy", in April transferred almost all of the sum he had won to Anyama, a foundation dedicated to the protection of the environment that he created a year earlier.
“During my life, I have witnessed, in Côte d'Ivoire, the incessant passage of trucks loaded with cut trees in the forests of Burkina Faso.
This ballet of trucks marked me a lot, made me indignant”, told “Guy” to the Parisian.
>> Find here
the story of this generous anonymous donor
7. Thanks to connected glasses, Robin sees in detail for the first time in his life
Robin had never used a device to improve his eyesight before.
LP/Timothée Talbi
Robin, 11, suffers from a rare eye condition that prevents him from seeing small objects.
The young boy was now able to forget his disability, the time of an experiment, by wearing immersive connected glasses.
Concretely, this technological prowess, still expensive, multiplies by five the visual acuity of the one who uses it.
For Robin, who had only worn classic glasses, the change is dizzying.
"It could help me in everyday life, whether it's to watch TV without being too close to the screen or to read on the blackboard without difficulty at school".
People suffering from around twenty visual diseases could use these same glasses, according to its founder, Grégory Ogorek.
>> Find out here
the moving experience of the young boy
8. Teddy, blind at 14, recounts his resilience in a book
Teddy has never seen his sight since he was 14 years old.
When he had just entered ninth grade, he became completely blind, a handicap that took him a long time to accept.
In an autobiographical book published in October, entitled "Vers la lumière", he recounts his descent into hell, alcoholism, then the click that helped him to move forward.
The birth of his daughter.
He would now like to witness to young people.
“Now, I think to myself
, I've come a long way,
but it's beautiful.
»
>> Read
Teddy's story and coming to terms with his disability here
9. The "Street Wolf" changed Walid's daily life in 48 hours
"The Wolf", as he is nicknamed, is a now well-known personality in the town of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
The 36-year-old influencer has 250,000 followers on the Snapchat network.
His thing?
The hunt for scam influencers and other reality TV stars.
But a cause this year took precedence over its usual activities: that of Walid, 9 years old.
A little handicapped boy and a family that needed help to enable him to have a vehicle adapted to the child's needs.
Successful mission for Le Loup, after setting up a kitty.
The amount needed was collected in two days.
>> Find here
the story of the commitment of the "Wolf of the street" for Walid
10. From Burkina Faso to Paris, rescue mission to treat Flavie's heart
She plants her joyful eye in yours and greets you with an august gesture, fingers open like a star.
From the height of her 70 cm and her 15 months, Flavie overflows with life and curiosity.
At "Tata" and "Tonton", in a pavilion in Vauréal (Val-d'Oise), she now clings to the coffee table to stand up.
The horizon has just widened suddenly for the little girl, who came at the beginning of the summer from Burkina Faso to be operated on in France for a serious heart condition.
He was given very few chances.
Here it is, no doubt, out of the woods.
Vauréal (Val d'Oise), Friday September 9, 2022. Joëlle and Pierre, a volunteer couple, welcomed little Flavie, who came from Burkina Faso to be operated on for a heart defect.
>> Read here
Flavie's story and the testimony of her host family
11. Brigitte, the super teacher who allowed Tarik to reveal himself
Can school change lives?
Undoubtedly, the answer is yes.
Whether we are talking about stories of love or hate, or a meeting with one of these teachers who reveals your potential to you.
This is the story told to us last October by Tarik Laghdiri, who today works as an insurance broker.
From the top of his 37 years, he could never forget Brigitte Beosière, his professor of economic and social sciences at the Lycée Fénelon in Seine-Saint-Denis.
He remembers her encouragement, her rigor and her confidence.
A way of teaching that has partly made Tarik the man he has become.
>> Immerse yourself
by clicking here in Tarik's memories and journey
12. Julien Rouméat, 12 years old and already a rough water lifeguard
On this Sunday, August 7, the young Julien Rouméat, 12, is quietly enjoying the beaches of Biarritz.
Then he hears screams.
" Help !
Help !
".
Intrigued, he swims towards these voices and discovers a father on the verge of drowning with his 5-year-old son by his side.
He does not hesitate, approaches them to allow them, despite a very strong current, to cling to his board.
He gets on his back and tries to get back to the beach as quickly as possible.
His efforts finally allowed the rescuers to take over.
>> Discover here
the testimony of young Julien
13. Fleeing the war in Ukraine, little Camilla finds a smile in France
Originally from Irpin in the suburbs of kyiv, Camilla, barely 3 years old, fled the war in Ukraine last March, with her mother.
They found refuge in the Landes.
The little girl is now educated in a kindergarten in the suburbs of Dax, where she learns her first words of French.
On the spot, solidarity was not long in coming: food and clothes were provided by the inhabitants to the little Ukrainian and her mother.
“Camilla is smiling again.
She runs, she jumps, she plays,” says her mother.
His nightmares, too, have dissipated.
Camilla and her mother Liéna were welcomed in the Landes at the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
© P.TOHIER-PHOTOMOBILE/2022
>> Find out here
the
journey of little Camilla and her mother Liéna
14. Twin sisters give birth on the same day
Two happy news just a few hours apart, for this family.
Twin sisters, pregnant at the same time, gave birth the same day to a baby girl.
Bérangère is thus the happy mother of Mia-Rose since January 11, in Strasbourg, while Charlotte gave birth a few hours later, in the same city, Alba.
“Charlotte arrived at the maternity ward when we were putting on Bérangère's epidural, laughs Aurélie, their big sister, 43 years old.
To believe that they expected!
»
>> Read here
the story of these incredible births
15. Arnaud saves his driver from a heart attack
The incident could have turned into a tragedy.
While he came to pick up Arnaud to drive him to a medical-educational center north of Beauvais, the driver, Jean-Luc, suffered a cardiac arrest.
Immediately, the young man, suffering from a mental handicap, grabbed the phone to give a series of indications to the emergency services.
The latter arrive quickly on site and take care of the driver in the best conditions.
"He saved my life, that's for sure", recognizes today Jean-Luc, who has never ceased to praise the "coldness" and the "calm" of his young passenger.
>> Find out here
the story of Arnaud and his express rescue
16. In the footsteps of goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, the child of Casablanca
Who would have imagined it?
The little Yassine Bounou, Moroccan goalkeeper, has become one of the stars of this World Cup, thanks to the incredible career of his selection.
In the district of Casablanca where he hit his first balloons, everyone remembers the "simplicity" and "the heart" of their champion.
At 31, this angel face that has become the almost impassable rampart of the Atlas Lions ends an exceptional year by winning the trophy for the best goalkeeper in the Spanish Liga.
A pride in the country.
"He may be a hero, but he's still our Yassine", laughs with the Parisian, Abdullah, who has already sold him in the past one of the hot tagines he simmers on the market. from Benjdia, to Casa.
>> Follow here
the traces of those who saw him grow up in the streets of Casablanca
Here, Abdullah, who cooks tagines in the Bendjdia market in Casablanca.
17. The journey of Cocci, the cat who traveled 600 km to see the Meuse again
Maybe she was homesick.
Cocci, a ten-year-old cat, disappeared in August 2021 from her new family home in Orne, Normandy.
Thirteen months have passed, during which her owners have done everything to find her... Until the surprise, almost a year later: her former veterinarian from the Meuse found her near Souilly, her village of origin, 600 km away.
A narrow rescue, according to its owners, because it then weighed only one kilo.
Now, Cocci is back in the Orne, warm.
And doesn't seem to want to leave anytime soon.
>> Discover here
the epic of Cocci through France
18. He fought to bring an Afghan family threatened with death to France
Months of battle for a happy ending.
In November, business manager Patrick Roussin, based in Hérault, was finally able to meet a family of eight Afghans who have been threatened with death since 2021 by the Taliban who took control of the country.
One of the sons of the family, a student at Polytechnique, accused by Kabul of being a spy, was indeed summoned to return to the country to be executed there - in place of his relatives.
A dramatic outcome which was fortunately avoided: Patrick Roussin managed to extract the family from the country, via Pakistan.
Now in France, the eight threatened Afghans have the right to political asylum.
>> Find here
the story of Patrick, entrepreneur who fought to save a family of Afghans
19. After living in a Twingo for a year, Roselyne and Patrice finally have a home
For a year, a green Twingo remained parked in the parking lot of the Auchan hypermarket in Buchelay.
The vehicle had become the living space of Roselyne, 68, and Patrice, 74.
A succession of administrative hiccups and unpaid rents pushed them both to the street, after 33 years spent in a HLM in Mantes-la-Ville.
Their story, told by us, aroused a wave of emotion.
Since then, they have found the comfort of a room and breakfast at home.
>> Read here
the beautiful story of the retired couple
20. After ten years living in a cellar, Mathilda can finally receive Christmas
She can finally feed herself, dress herself, and receive people in decent accommodation.
Mathilda*, a 58-year-old carer, lived for ten years in a 9 m2 cellar, for 500 euros a month, near the Eiffel Tower.
Sentenced by the courts to pay 12,000 euros for "abusive occupation" of the accommodation, the media coverage of her case by Le Parisien enabled her to find a real apartment this year with the social services, in the 15th arrondissement.
And to benefit from the help of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, which intends to sue the owner of the substandard housing.
*Name has been changed.
Thanks to the mobilization born of an article in Le Parisien, Mathilda was able to integrate an apartment rue de Vaugirard.
>> Discover here
the new life of Mathilda, relocated after ten years in an unsanitary cellar
21. Infertile, Antoine managed to have two children
“I am proof that you can start from scratch and create a happy family,” he says.
Since 2017, Antoine*, a 39-year-old financial executive, had been trying to start a family with Clémentine, 30.
Problem: he suffers, like many men, from infertility.
Never mind, Antoine has decided to do everything to improve his sperm count, by radically changing his lifestyle, and by applying a new method of in vitro fertilization, ICSI.
With success: despite two miscarriages, Antoine and Clémentine are now the happy parents of little Marie and Madeleine, 4 years and 8 months old.
*Name has been changed.
>> Discover here
the journey of Antoine, diagnosed infertile and now father of two girls
22. Julien Avalet, the man who became a storm chaser after surviving lightning as a child
“It could have been a phobia, but it became a vocation.
At the age of 12, the house of Julien Avalet was struck by a violent thunderbolt, which threw the boy, his father and a loved one a few meters from his garage.
Since then, the photographer has made the phenomenon his passion: equipped with weather apps, radar and a suitable camera, the 40-year-old man can travel hundreds of kilometers to immortalize a snapshot of lightning. falling down on the ground.
Having become a reference on the subject, Julien Avalet is teeming with projects: a book to be published in 2023, prevention training and several field surveys for companies.
Julien Avalet has been a storm chaser for 20 years.
It tracks violent meteorological phenomena, such as lightning or tornadoes, and immortalizes them.
>> Find here
the story of Julien, struck by lightning and now a storm specialist