Bright red jacket on the shoulders, the sparkling eye under her blond bun, the young woman who opens the door of her apartment, on the 6th floor of this quiet residence in Kremlin-Bicêtre (Val-de-Marne), prefers to warn everything about continuation, as if she was afraid of disappointing: "Me, I am an ordinary person, not at all exceptional".
We leave to Marion Dehecq full responsibility for his comments.
What is certain is that this 24-year-old math teacher, reservist with the Paris fire department, was a perfect anonymous until April 28, 2021.
Read also Paris: after the "miracle" of Parc Monceau, Lori met the woman who saved her husband
It was the "miracle of Parc Monceau", already told by Le Parisien.
Marion was returning from a gym session, a 53-year-old jogger had just collapsed, suffering from a heart attack.
She practiced the decisive gestures, as she learned them during the guards she performs at the firefighters.
Man is today safe and sound.
No after-effects.
His wife, Lori, distraught with recognition, wanted to find the rescuer, suddenly placed in the spotlight ... "Crazy", Marion murmurs.
The beautiful story of the day.
At Parc Monceau pic.twitter.com/PHNQZljUgW
- Alyosha (@Plumedaliocha) May 1, 2021
"If that could give people the idea of being trained in first aid ..."
On the living room table, we see a long cardboard slab.
A little Marianne stands out there, at the heart of a tricolor: "Ministry of the Interior - Presentation of decoration to 1st class sapper Marion Dehecq, Paris fire brigade, May 10, 2021".
"I confess to you that I do not know yet where I am going to put it.
"Marion Dehecq laughs, incredulous at the idea of having received a medal," from the hands of a minister!
"- Marlène Schiappa in this case.
Without flirtatiousness, this sportswoman with the long slender silhouette, lends herself to the outdoor photo shoot, under the eyes of rare neighbors.
“So many honors, it's crazy how big it is… My students told me:
Madam, you are a star, we saw you on TV
!
If that could give people the idea of being trained in first aid… ”
First aid, she speaks of it as a vocation.
A “passion” even, “that she“ did everything to preserve ”.
Daughter of a firefighter and a teacher herself trained in saving gestures, Marion Dehecq grew up in barracks, "to the sound of
the Marseillaise
, sung every Monday for those killed by fire".
A weekend on call each month within the 2nd Paris firefighters company
Barely of age, she was doing civic service with the firefighters - without dropping out of maths college. She experienced her first aid interventions there. Keeps some bright memories: “My first parturient. A woman who gave birth in the lobby of her building, she had not had time to take the taxi. I watched my team do it, they were more experienced. It was necessary to reassure the mother, to slip into the skin of a midwife. The baby came out, there were the mother's children, all upset by what was happening. We sometimes experience beautiful things! "
Since 2018, she has been a reservist, that is to say that she combines her "civilian work" and 24-hour guards within the 2nd company of Paris firefighters, at an average rate of one week. end per month, and during school holidays.
Reservists do not intervene in fires, but to rescue victims.
The days are intense, between sports sessions, instruction and then those moments when we "shift" - we go into intervention.
“Sometimes we don't have time to sleep.
It's exciting, the days are never the same, we intervene in very different environments, we have a social role with the victims.
I learned a lot about the company.
"
At the head of the unit, Captain Robin clearly identified Marion among the thirty reservists, with various profiles, assigned to the company.
"She is reserved", he says, but also "carried towards the others and invested".
Rather in line with the values claimed by the Parisian fire brigade: altruism, efficiency, discretion.
"It's crazy to have been there at the right time for this gentleman"
But despite having first aid in her blood, the young woman's eye suddenly sparkles with emotion when she thinks of Peter, the survivor of Parc Monceau.
Because, all the same, she breathes, a tear clinging to the eyelashes, “it's crazy to have been there at the right time for this gentleman”.
“Her children are 13 and 15 years old.
I couldn't have imagined losing my father at that age.
"
Of course, she has already rescued victims in cardiopulmonary arrest. “But it's different when you don't expect it, when you're not in the context of an intervention. I was alone, in shorts and a T-shirt… ”She sees the“ very pale ”man again,“ the panicked looks ”of passers-by. The rain falling suddenly, very hard, his hands on the chest of the unconscious jogger… “People stayed, it made a bubble around us. The body was having nervous reactions, they said: be
careful, you are hurting it…
But I knew I had to continue. "
She tells about these first aid automatisms: calling for help, asking for the park's defibrillator, administering a first shock.
“It was dark, there was nothing to tell that the heart was going to beat back normally.
But when the defibrillator indicated that a second shock was not necessary, I understood that he was going to come back to him… ”
She sees herself again, soaked, returning to her car after the arrival of the firefighters.
One of them said to him: “Well done, you saved a life.
"A little grandpa who was there applauded me.
I just smiled.
At home, I found my companion, himself a Paris firefighter.
The next day, he had his guard, and I my classes.
Life went on.
"
"A 10-year-old can learn to do cardiac massage"
In first aid, "we give, without expecting to receive," notes Sabine, Marion's mother.
“The same evening, she had warned us via the family WhatsApp, we had all sent her small messages.
We were super proud of her.
But afterwards, for us it was over.
"
And although she would have liked to know how the jogger was doing, Marion had no way of checking in.
“When the fire department's communications office called me to tell me that his wife was looking for me, I was finally convinced: he was alive.
The gentleman now has a first name: Peter.
“It seems he can't wait to meet me too.
He is a maritime rescuer.
"
Paris, Parc Monceau, May 2.
Lori (left), reunited with Marion, who saved her husband Peter, who suffered from a heart attack.
LP / Celine Carez
It will be necessary to succeed in stalling the meeting.
In addition to her teaching work with adolescents with learning disabilities, her reserve guards, Marion Dehecq also directs gym training in Paris and provides academic support to young rugby players at the Stade Français.
Teaching, transmitting, that is his other passion.
She also wants to educate third grade students, to whom she teaches, about first aid measures: “Any citizen can become a lifeguard.
A 10-year-old can learn to give cardiac massage, and how to sound the alarm.
"
How to become a reservist or a first aid worker
If you feel like a reservist, you will have to wait a bit before you apply.
The health crisis and their mobilization in vaccinodromes have led the Paris firefighters to interrupt for the moment the recruitment of civilians for their operational reserve.
To be a candidate, you must have French nationality, be between 18 and 45 years old, have a clean criminal record, hold PSE 2 (team rescue training).
24-hour guards are paid 110 euros (not taxable).
Without committing to the firefighters, one can also be trained in “saving gestures”, with approved associations (list available on the website of the Ministry of the Interior).
