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Ten days after an
"exceptional event in a lifetime",
as described by the headmaster of their high school, Baptiste and Théo, two final year students from an establishment located in Ancenis-Saint-Géréon (Loire-Atlantique) told with modesty and humility how they twice saved a man's life.
They did it this Thursday during the lunch break, in front of their comrades, their parents but also many officials.
Two mayors, gendarmes and many firefighters were present.
All had come to salute the courage, tenacity and composure of these two friends
“since primary school”
.
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To celebrate
"a rare act of bravery"
, according to the mayor of the town, Rémy Orhon, an official ceremony was organized in the council chamber of the school.
The two young men received a medal, a diploma symbolizing their
“exemplary behavior”
and many congratulations.
Shortly after, they told Le
Figaro
, always with as much restraint, the story of their rescue and the risks taken to help a man in distress.
Scarf around a tree
Monday, February 27, around 5 p.m., they took part in an orienteering race near their high school as part of a PE course.
“Even if it was not an assessment, with Théo, we had planned to do it thoroughly.
We left very quickly.
We were the first on the path taken along the Loire”
, recounts Baptiste.
His comrade Theo is then taken aback by a detail.
By
"glancing to the right"
, he sees a man hanging a scarf from a tree:
"I said to myself that it was not normal and that he was behaving suspiciously.
We decided to stop, retrace our steps and then hide behind a bush to see what he was doing.
Baptiste and Théo did not hesitate to take risks to help a man in distress.
JC / Le Figaro
Too bad for the chrono, the two friends want to understand what is happening.
“The man then took off his coat.
Then, thirty seconds later, he hung himself from the tree
,” continues Theo.
Neither one nor two, they rush to his aid:
“He had headphones on but we were talking to him.
Baptiste managed to pull it up so that it could get some air and I untied the knot which was accessible.
The two teenagers then decide to sit down the individual they have just saved and try to talk to him.
The latter remains silent.
"I jumped into the water, I did not think"
"As we are obliged to have a mobile phone for each duo on this type of event, I wanted to contact the emergency services"
, indicates Théo.
Problem: the network is bad in the area.
He is obliged to go up the path and leave Baptiste alone.
It is at this moment that everything changes again.
“He took advantage of a moment when I was watching Theo go away to jump into the Loire
,” explains Baptiste.
Although his parents have constantly told him since his early childhood that the river and its currents are dangerous, the young man will do the same.
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“I jumped into the water, I didn't think about it
, he says.
I managed to catch up with him.
He was agitated then I managed to grab him by the wrists.
He then let himself be done so that I would bring him back.
If he wanted to take me, he took me with him.
To hear Baptiste, all of this seems normal:
“I only did what I was taught”
.
Chance, fate some would say, wants that the day before, the young man and his friend - both good swimmers and who have long rubbed shoulders in a swimming club - had validated the national certificate of water safety and rescue (BNSSA ).
"I didn't think I would put it into practice so quickly"
, concedes Baptiste.
Once out of the water, he tries again to establish contact with the man he has just saved.
First again mute, he ended up
"confiding and talking to me about his life"
, underlines the young man soberly.
They want to meet the saved man
During this time, his friend Théo found some network.
But there again, nothing is simple.
Difficult to find your way around the area and to describe the places to the emergency services.
“I ended up seeing a beacon on the Loire with a number on it.
Ten minutes later, the firefighters were there and took care of us
, ”he reports.
In the days following this event, the duo sometimes thought about it.
"
We tell ourselves that if we had passed five minutes later or that if it had been a group of different students, not trained in first aid gestures as we are, things could have been very different", confides Baptiste
who prefers to retain the
"positive"
.
In addition to a medal, Baptiste and Théo also received a diploma to symbolize their “act of bravery”.
JC / Le Figaro
Théo admits to having had a
"slump"
the next day, but was
"relieved"
to learn shortly after that the rescued person
"was better"
.
The two high school students, who think of moving towards engineering training in the future, would like to be able to exchange with him:
“We know that he sees someone
[a psychiatric nurse, editor’s note].
We want to see him again to find out about his projects.
According to a confidence made by a person who met him, the latter could write them a letter.
He has already done so via the local press to
"thank"
them for their gesture.
“Today I am alive, I realized that what I had just done was stupid.
I wanted to apologize to these two young heroes.
I also apologize to their parents and I thank them for having made sons with a minimum of empathy”
, he wrote in a text sent to
Presse Océan
.
“Stressed” then “proud” moms
Present at the ceremony this Thursday, the parents of Baptiste and Théo are
“proud”
of their child.
At the time, shortly after learning of the risks taken by their offspring, Chantal and Carine, the two mothers, were
“stressed”
.
Since then, they have
“exchanged a lot”
with them (even if the two teenagers remain measured on the subject).
They are
“very happy with what they have done”
.
On the side of the classmates of the duo, it is the word
"pride"
which comes back on everyone's lips.
"We have a lot of respect for their gesture and the empathy they have shown
," says Danaë.
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Beyond the
"courage"
and
"determination"
of the duo, Clarit Alofs, the principal of the high school where Baptiste and Théo are educated, wishes to highlight the value
of "example"
of their act: "
Faced with speeches stigmatizing towards youth, they demonstrated that our young citizens in the making know how to commit, show solidarity and be responsible.”
Rémy Orhon, the mayor of Ancenis, is on the same wavelength.
“You are the symbol of a youth who are still suffering from the health crisis but who remain courageous and committed.
You have shown extraordinary composure and maturity
,” he told them.
The importance of first aid gestures
A message that does not leave Baptiste and Théo indifferent.
They would like us to talk
less about the settling of scores in Nantes
, a city located about thirty kilometers from their home, and which tarnishes
the “image of young people”
.
The duo prefers to see the glass half full.
Rather than pull the blanket to them, they believe that many young people are doing
“positive actions”
.
Their only request after the experience they had: that the State do more
"to promote first aid gestures"
among young people.
“We heard about BNSSA through our swimming club.
This kind of device is not put forward.
It remains invisible to many young people
,” they claim.
For them, knowing how to save a life will have changed theirs.
