"I was in the car when the cell phone rang. My son shouted: No, it's not possible, it's not true." Christiane (not her real name), 87, is the great-grandmother of Alba, 2, one of four children aged 22 to 36 months who were seriously wounded with a knife by a man of Syrian nationality, this Thursday, June 8 in the morning in the park of the shores of Lake Annecy (Haute-Savoie). His cousin Ennio was also among the victims.
Reached by phone on Thursday evening, the octogenarian agreed to speak to us. "It was 10:30, my son (Alba's grandfather) was taking me home after driving me to a cardiologist appointment. At first, we couldn't believe it, when you're in shock, you can't cry," says Christiane, a great-grandmother of 32 grandchildren.
"I know it's serious, they can die"
Alba's family has always been Savoyard, originally farmers. The girl's mother, in her thirties, is now an assistant in a law firm in Saint-Martin, her husband, also in his thirties, works in Switzerland in a large watchmaking company. "As Alba and her cousin's mothers Ennio work, it was their grandmother who was walking them in the park this morning when misfortune happened. It was appalling, the parents were screaming, "says the octogenarian.
Since her son left her at home, Christiane has been watching the news on TV, waiting for the phone to ring to finally hear from her. "My son went to the emergency room in Grenoble by car where the two children were helicoptered. The whole family went there. They left in three cars. Our whole family is in collapse."
The grandmother describes herself as "trembling like a leaf" and "no longer able to stand". "I know it's serious, that Alba and Ennio can die, but I want to keep hope. As I am very religious, I pray to God that my two great-grandchildren will make it." The octogenarian also said he was praying for the other two children who were stabbed. "I heard on TV that they are also in a very serious condition," she sighs.