"I'm disgusted": 4 children drown and everyone just films
On June 19, the sea near Le Barcarès in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of France was particularly troubled. However, a 42-year-old Frenchman did not hesitate to dive into the water to save 4 poor children from drowning.
Although considered a hero, Jérémy could not hide his disappointment and disgust in front of the press. He still cannot believe the passivity of the witnesses, after all, a lot of people preferred to stay on the beach to film the scene. He shares his disappointment with the media channel Actu Perpignan.
Lying under his parasol after an exhausting swim, he suddenly heard a man screaming. "He was standing at the edge, with the water up to his knees. He said his children were drowning. I told him to come help me and I went back into the water". However, the man who had raised the alarm, the children's father, did not move.
While fighting the waves, Jérémy encountered a 5-year-old girl, the youngest child, without a life preserver or life jackets. The little brother and the other two girls quickly grabbed him. "The two older girls jumped on my neck. I explained to one of them that if she drowned me, we would be finished. The little boy was able to get out by himself. I'm very proud of him," he says. In about 10 minutes, they were able to reach the beach 30 meters away together and also thanks to the rescuer's clear instructions.
When Jérémy arrived on the beach with the 4 children, he could not believe his eyes when he saw a horde of smartphones aimed at him. "When I came out of the water with the girls, I saw all the cell phones filming us. I quickly moved aside so the rescue team could get to them. But it disgusted me". He continued, without hiding his anger, "I was angry that no one came to help me. And it's not the rescuers' fault! I had to walk 150 meters to warn them. Why didn't anyone do that?"
But another witness, Simon, has a more "balanced" version of the story. According to him, Jérémy was not alone. "There is no doubt that without him the toll could have been terrible, but there was also another man who was able to save some children with his surfboard and myself. I was able to get the youngest girl back to the beach by helping Jérémy".
A happy ending, in any version, and that's all that matters!
(FVDV and AsD for Tagtik/Source: Demotivateur/Illustration: Unsplash)
