It is a pain that those close to Sylvain Lethier thought that nothing could ever equal it. And yet: to the suffering of the disappearance of this 38-year-old father added that of the difficulty in being able to recover his body.
On January 30, this mountain and board sports enthusiast was buried by an avalanche in Japan. With six friends, supervised by two high mountain guides from Isère, he was skiing on the island of Hokkaido, more precisely in the area of Tomamu, a ski resort operated by Club Med.
The entourage of this Franc-Comtois from Valdahon (Doubs) was warned by his friends that he had died. And, the next day, thanks to a translator, they were assured that his remains would be quickly repatriated. Alas, almost three weeks later, Sylvain Lethier's body has still not been. And his family despairs that it will be in the next few days. “It's simple, explains one of its members: we go from hope to despair. No frank answer is made to us. And, whenever we have the feeling that a step forward is taken, we are obliged to note the following day that this is not the case. "
Information from embassy denied by insurance, which seems outdated
The latest news, after three weeks of procrastination, the body of Sylvain Lethier would be this time finally in Tokyo. "But even that, we have no confirmation," said a family spokesperson. The Embassy told us on Monday that this was the case. Half an hour later, Europ Assistance denied it. "
For Sylvain Lethier's entourage, it is indeed the assistance company, diligently through the guide's insurance, which seems overwhelmed by this file. "We never have the same interlocutor, resumes this close friend or any clear answer to our questions, and even less the impression that they show the minimum of empathy that we could have expected." "They would have managed the loss of a suitcase that they would not have done otherwise," criticizes another member of the family.
The return of the Frenchman's body also seems complicated by the administrative procedure. A first funeral home company, based on the island of Hokkaido, first demanded ... $ 30,000 to transfer the coffin to Tokyo. When a second, twice cheaper, was mandated, the first would not have wanted to part with the body, believing that it was the sole owner of this "market".
"It's extremely trying"
Once this pitfall is overcome, and the body probably arrived in Tokyo, a certificate should be issued by the town hall, attesting in particular that Sylvain Lethier was not wearing a pacemaker. Only then will his body be able to return to France by plane. Not for at least a week, as the family of the victim understood.
In view of this delay, she must have realized that the coffin would be sealed, and that neither her parents nor her wife and little girls, 3 and 6 years old, could see it before her burial. "It's extremely trying," said the family spokesperson. His wife wants her husband finally returned to him. We wonder if we shouldn't have gone there to speed things up. "
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In the meantime, it's Valdahon who, on February 6, wanted to pay a final tribute to this particularly appreciated child of the country. In the center of this town of 5,000 souls where Sylvain Lethier was born, a thousand inhabitants marched for a white march. “We lose more than a friend. He was a tall man, kind, helpful, explained Sylvie, a participant, in the columns of the daily newspaper l'Est Républicain. It is hard to believe that it has disappeared. "
At the head of several real estate agencies, Sylvain Lethier was very well known in Haut-Doubs as well as in Besançon, where he had just taken the helm of a Century 21 agency. Contacted, the company Europ Assistance said "sympathize with the pain of the family ”and ensures that its“ medical and operational teams treat the case with the highest priority ”. She specifies that “the administrative and logistical procedures are undertaken so that this repatriation takes place as soon as possible. "
