“I told about my brother’s disability”: eight children authors of a testimonial book

Faced with the excitement that reigns in the room, at the back of the Leclerc cultural center, in Lagord, we cannot help but slip into the line. Around thirty people are waiting for his dedication. That of Darlyne, 9 years old. “Look, you're a star now!“, his mother mischievously slips to him. Darlyne is Drasik's little sister, sitting in an armchair to his left, attentive eye.

13 years ago, Drasik was born with multiple disabilities. This is his storytheir story, which Darlyne told, in the book which she mechanically signs with a red marker. Always his first name, underlined with a confident line. Always with a pattern, applied with an inked stamp. Never the same.

“He never told us that before!”

“I told how I experienced my brother's disability, she confides. We were able to express what we felt. That's why I wanted to do the book.“Here it is autographed. We can move towards Noah. In What if I told youthese are his own stories that we can read. That of a 5 and a half year old child who discovered the first symptoms of lymphocytic leukemia alongside his family.

That, too, of a young college student in remission. “On the weekend, we were on the computer with my dad. He gave me little ideas because it's been a long time since I had my illness. It felt good to talk about it. It freed me from all the pressure I had because of her.”

“The more things went, the more will he put into it, confirms David, his father. He was happy to reminisce. When we learned of his illness, my wife was pregnant. He told us that, when his mother came to see him in the hospital, he was afraid of transmitting his illness to his little sister. He never told us that before!”

The project before the work was initiated, then led by Sarah Blaineau. Writer, it was she who contacted the association helping sick children.Let's get the moon for Gaspard“, with this idea of ​​making a book with children. For several weeks, she met with them to help them put down on paper what they had to share. The famous words about evils.

“The exchanges were totally different from one child to another. Some spoke very easily, very quickly. With them, we only did one session. They told everything and we wrote. For others, you had to ask a lot of questions. But, in general, they spoke a lot about their illness, their dreams, their hopes.“

Today, the book is available for sale online and at the Leclerc cultural space in Lagord. The association hopes to distribute it soon in other bookstores in La Rochelle, Niort or Angoulême.

“The other objective is to raise awareness among the general publicassures Marie Dubois, the president. There are also schools interested in working on it. There is often a parallel life with the illness. These children have so much in them… It's beautiful to share all of this.“For Sarah as for Mary, the idea of ​​a volume 2 is not ruled out…