Last Saturday, several people were stabbed at a shopping center in Sydney. The report shows six deaths. Damien Guerot and Silas Despreaux, two French nationals, courageously intervened against the attacker before the latter was neutralized by a police officer.
Aged around thirty, they faced the attacker armed with a pole, as shown in surveillance videos. In recognition, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced offering Australian citizenship to Damien Guerot. Silas Despreaux is already a permanent resident of the country. Emmanuel Macron sent them his congratulations in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter. “
Condolences to the Australians struck by an attack in a shopping center in Sydney on Saturday. Two of our compatriots behaved like true heroes. Very great pride and recognition
,” wrote the President of the Republic
.
We didn't really think we were putting ourselves in danger. We didn't realize it.
Damien Guerot in “C l’hebdo”
If they have already spoken in the Australian media, it was the France 5 talk show “C l'hebdo” which landed their first interview on French television. Aurélie Casse will ask her questions by videoconference to compensate for the distance. The interview will be broadcast this Saturday, April 20, from 6:55 p.m. Proud of this nice media stunt, the fifth channel has already revealed a short extract on its social networks.
“Honestly, even after that, we were still in shock. But at no time did we say to ourselves that it was going to take on such magnitude
,” testifies Silas Despreaux. A version that Damien Guerot enriches:
“We didn’t really think that we were putting ourselves in danger. We didn’t realize it
. ”
“We had a warm reaction and even today when people ask us would I do the same thing again? I cannot answer this question. I don't know. I don’t know why I decided at that moment when I saw it… I can’t explain it
,” Silas Despreaux then adds.