For three days and three nights, Jean-Marie Boursier, a 71-year-old from Issoldun, remained alone in his car stuck in a ditch near Saint-Août while help was looking for him everywhere. Without water, without food, without batteries, a muddy path as the only horizon. Deliverance appeared to him on Wednesday 1is January 2025, at 3:25 p.m., in the guise of a smiling man, with a salt-and-pepper beard, the unsteady tongue of a Fleming who is just learning French, Sven De Jonge.
“I spoke with him to make the time pass faster while waiting for help”
For several months, the De Jonge family has lived in one of these farmhouses lost in the middle of the mouths of the south of the Indre. She had gone for a bike ride, the day after New Year's Eve, when she discovered Jean-Marie Boursier's car. “When we see a situation like this, we obviously try to help”underlines, a few days later, Sophie De Jonge. In their living room, the Christmas tree still sits in apparent normality. The daily newspaper quickly regained its rights after a start to the year that these Belgians, originally from Antwerp, will not forget.
Sophie and Sven De Jonge, in their house near Saint-Août.
© (Photo NR, Manuela Thonnel)
« We did not see the news ! (We don't watch the news), confides Sven, stammering between English, Dutch and French. We didn't know anyone was wanted. I approached alone. I didn't want my daughter to see a dead man. » But, the family arrived in time. The Issoldunois is disoriented, but well conscious.
“He immediately asked us for watersays Sophie. He kept putting his hand on his pocket to offer us money, he was really afraid that we would leave without helping him. We called the police. I spoke with him to make the time pass faster while waiting for help. He told me he had two children, five grandchildren…” Sven warns his son, who remains at home, and instructs him to bring water as quickly as possible. “He drank a liter and a half in one go”Sophie continues.
The commander of the Issoudun company, squadron leader Guillaume Fleury, was among the first to join the septuagenarian. “ It's a miraclehe delivers. A miracle that this family takes this completely impassable path. Me, a rather experienced cyclist, I would certainly have turned around, comments the squadron leader. When I arrive and I see this gentleman, sitting in his car, chatting next to this Belgian lady, I tell myself that he is incredibly lucky. Three nights without being able to eat, at this age, with difficult temperatures… It was -3°C in my area on New Year's Eve. It's incredible. »
“We knew time was running out”
Significant emergency resources were deployed during these three days, without success: “We knew time was running out. There were a lot of emotions between this Belgian family, Mr. Boursier's relatives who came to the site, and for the police as well. It was a great relief, good news which gives meaning to our action. »
For the soldier, the survival of Jean-Marie Boursier is undoubtedly due to this fortuitous discovery. “I especially want to highlight the reaction of this familyhe congratulates. They could have passed by this vehicle. But they alerted and provided first aid. This gentleman (Sven De Jonge) went to get his 4×4, and waited for us along the D918. In fact, he even made his car available to allow me to get to the nearest one. Otherwise, we could only have gotten there on foot. Then the firefighters arrived. »
Friday January 3, the Issoldunois was still being treated in hospital. From this rescue, the De Jonge family learns a lesson: “Now we know how important it is to follow the police’s alerts. »
Laborious research
Weather, distance, lack of visibility. For three days, the work of the search teams was complicated by the fog, and the inability of the helicopter to take off to fly over the area, regrets the commander of the La Châtre gendarmerie company. A search area ” extent “ he emphasizes, from Saint-Août to Saint-Chartier first. “Mr Boursier, in his distress, managed to leave a voice message for his family on Sunday, but they did not receive it until Monday. » Following this message, the search radius was extended to La Châtre and Châteaumeillant. “Unfortunately, he was disorientedcomments the squadron leader. He was out of battery, so geolocation was complicated. The path was not visible from the road, hidden by a hedge and the color of his car blended into the landscape. »
