“Imagine if there hadn't been a witness who had the courage to alert the authorities [le ministère de la Santé]I would never have known what Lucas had endured during his stay in the Hyères emergency room“.
This witness is called Damien Arnoux. He was then the same age as his neighbor on the stretcher. He saw him suffer, writhing in pain, not being heard, being abandoned. He saw him in agony for hours. “Above all, he had the reflex to tell himself that this was not normal and to write letters to say so. In our misfortune, he is the one who allowed us to know what Lucas had endured“.
“It can happen to anyone!”
Catherine Godefroy, the mother of the 25-year-old young man, who died on the night of September 30 to October 1, 2023, following sepsis at Hyères hospital, experiences her mourning with great dignity, but with the desire to know the whole truth about that terrible night.
“What happened to Lucas could happen to anyone. It is time for politicians to take charge of this problem of emergencies, psychiatry, pediatrics… I have given interviews, I have appeared on television, I am supported, but what are politicians doing to change the things?“.
Should we organize general meetings of health and emergency services? “Something must be done. I worked at the hospital several years ago, it wasn't like that! Something wrong. We should have the capacity to act, to alert when something is wrong.”
“Where is the empathy and humanity towards patients?”
For Catherine Godefroy, there is not only a lack of resources. “Where is the empathy and humanity towards patients? Should we treat patients like children, infantilize them, act as if they were not present? Lucas had dreadlocks. Didn't he deserve to be taken care of? Was there any prejudice? We want to know“.
This fighting mother has received dozens of testimonials. “Not everyone is armed to defend themselves, to say that this is not normal. There are unthinkable situations“.
She refers to the testimony of a patient who had the impression of having been raped during an auscultation. “She had a medical problem with her anus. There was a doctor and three interns.
He was told to get on all fours and the interns started laughing. She no longer wanted to go to the hospital and her medical situation deteriorated. She was afraid to live again this situation. She had to be taken to the emergency room. reports Catherine Godefroy.
“A more complete investigation will be carried out”
The judicial investigation opened by the Toulon public prosecutor's office for “involuntary homicide” and the appointment of an investigating judge is a significant plus in the search for the truth. Could he have been saved? Have all necessary means been implemented to keep him alive?
“A more complete investigation will be able to be carried out. The two reports from the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and that of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) submitted by the Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin, have been released. Investigations have been carried out and will be carried out”, she explains.
She assures that she will go “until the end of the criminal proceedings. With my lawyer, Mr. Thomas Callen, we had already filed a complaint with the constitution of a civil party. The Toulon public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation and appointed an investigating judge. The goal is to get things done. That sick people can see doctors in the hospital!“.
“I wonder if going to SOS Médecin would not have been better“
As for the sanctions handed down against health professionals in court, she says she is stunned. “It was explained to me that a doctor who had just been convicted had received a heavy sanction: suspended prison sentence. Despite convictions, doctors can practice. On the other hand, an anti-vaccination doctor can be removed. You need consistency“.
Catherine then remembers one of the texts sent by Lucas to his parents, from his stretcher: “I wonder if going to SOS Médecin would not have been better“.
This mother hopes that politicians will use their mandates to change things for patients. “We have the right to empathy and a minimum of humanity when we enter the hospital“, she insists.
