He had just returned home to his Hauts-de-France region to continue playing rugby.
And it was while practicing his passion that he suddenly lost his life.
On Thursday November 3, towards the end of evening training between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., Grégoire Boidoux collapsed on the lawn of the MEL Stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (North).
“Victim of an unexpected cardiac arrest while participating in an exercise without particular intensity”, according to his club, OMR Marcq Rugby Lille Métropole, the 19-year-old did not get up.
Urgently transported to the Lille CHR, he was placed in an artificial coma.
Grégoire died this weekend, "of natural causes", specifies the club.
At a time when rugby France was waking up with an eleventh straight victory for the XV of France, the eyes still shining from the exploit of Damian Penaud, at a time when all the clubs in France are preparing to play their sacrosanct matches on Sunday afternoon, the terrible news has fallen.
The oval has lost one of its own.
Very quickly, following the publication of the news on the Facebook page of the OMR, tributes rained down, from relatives or anonymous people, from all over France.
The rugby family is bereaved.
OMR Marcq Rugby Lille Métropole is sad to inform you of the death of Grégoire Boidoux. The club, deeply...
Posted by OMR Marcq Rugby Lille Métropole on Sunday, November 6, 2022
Grégoire Boidoux was one of those children of rugby, which he discovered in a region where this sport is far from king.
At the age of 13, the great teenager plays for the Touquet Etaples Rugby Club (TERC), a team from the Côte d'Opale where he started his career.
The potential of the young man pushes him to fly away from his home, in the Basque Country, on this land bathed in rugby.
Grégoire Boidoux joined the Aviron Bayonnais training center in 2018, at the age of 15.
He will stay there for 4 years.
"It's a training center for a Top 14 club, the level of training is very high, he was in very good physical condition", assures someone close to his club in the North.
"A charming boy, involved and always with a smile"
In Bayonne, Grégoire crosses a few levels, interrupted by the cuts linked to the Covid.
He plays matches with regional selections and plays with the youth teams of the famous Basque club.
He is also part of the Bayonne group which played a stage of the SuperSevens, the professional rugby 7s circuit, on August 13th.
Last season, in parallel with his training at Aviron Bayonnais, he spent a year with a double license at the neighboring club of Anglet Olympique Rugby Club (AORC).
He will play there with the Espoirs team, but also a meeting with the first team, then in Federal 1 (since promoted to National 2, like OMR).
“He had just found his native North and the club of Marcq-en-Barœul, indicates the AORC on its Facebook page.
Grégoire will leave a very good memory of his too short time in our club.
A charming boy, involved and always with a smile.
The “smile” is also what one of her friends remembers, remembering on the social network the summers spent in a holiday club on the beaches of Le Touquet.
Attached to his region, Grégoire, who leaves behind his parents, a brother and a sister, had therefore just returned to the North.
“A personal choice”, according to his club.
“He came back to the region to have fun in the club”, according to another source.
He had only been at the OMR for a week when the tragedy took place.
Vibrant tributes were paid to him on Sunday afternoon on the grounds where the bereaved club teams played.
Like the whole rugby family.
Intense emotion today in Fromelles for our match against Les Weppes.
We learned this morning of the death of...
Posted by Thomas Guénin on Sunday, November 6, 2022