A nurse "who has spent her life serving others." It is with these words that the Director General of Reims University Hospital described Carène Mezino during the tribute in her memory on Tuesday, May 23. A strong emotion could be read on everyone's faces as the hospital staff, gathered in a small courtyard of the institution, observed a minute of silence in the early afternoon.
"We are very shocked, very tested," says Beata, an adult emergency reception officer, who learned of the nurse's death this morning. The 38-year-old woman had been injured the day before by an individual armed with a 59-year-old knife. She succumbed to her injuries on the night of Monday to Tuesday. A 57-year-old medical secretary was also seriously injured in the attack. "I'm not well," says Valerie, who works in the emergency room. I tell myself it could be me. In terms of emergencies, we really see 'wow' cases," she whispers with a knotted throat.
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The perpetrator was arrested in the aftermath. He "seems to have acted without apparent motive, especially since he did not have an appointment in this service," said the prosecutor of Reims, Matthieu Bourrette, in a statement. He "seems to suffer from severe disorders and has been the subject of a reinforced curatorship measure for several years," he said. An investigation was opened for "murder" and "attempted murder".
The man had previously been implicated in a relatively similar legal proceeding. On June 20, 2017, he stabbed four staff members of the ESAT (establishment and service of assistance through work) of Meix-Tiercelin, a structure specializing in the support of people suffering from a mental disorder.
A minute of silence will be observed in all hospitals in France on Wednesday.