Thomas Castel wants to believe in his lucky star

Thomas Castel has the gift of making you roll your eyes. And that's fortunate, because there are some beautiful things going on up there, once night falls. Comets and constellations offer their scintillating spectacle, the moon sometimes eclipses discreetly and the northern lights show all the colors to those who open their eyes.

Sometimes rare, always magical images, which the 42-year-old independent photographer most often captures from the heights of the Bénesse-lès-Dax mill and shares on his Facebook page, followed by more than 3,800 people. Some have been viral, such as the arrival at full speed of a gigantic, martial arcus, above the Capbreton pier, on August 31, 2024, or the super blue moon illuminating the statue of the world champion of cycling André Darrigade in Narrosse, August 19.

“I like to share what I see,” confides Thomas Castel. I think that if I had been born in another time, I would have painted or written stories. It’s my camera that does everything, that captures the emotion. I'm just here at the right time. »

Death in the background

But before capturing a shooting star, you have to get up early. Thomas Castel, “on the lookout for everything”, is sometimes posted at 4 a.m. at the foot of the Bénesse-lès-Dax mill, tracking the moment when he will have to be quick to press the trigger.

“For the Northern Lights, I have spent the night there several times. For those that we were able to observe in October 2024, I was alone and it was very cold, he remembers. Many people left at the stroke of midnight. And then the sky opened around 1 a.m. I stayed until 9 a.m., my fingers were purple! But it makes memories, you have to do it, show people that it exists. These are things to celebrate. Instinctively, in these moments, I feel connected to something that I can't really define yet, but which reminds me of how lucky I am to still be alive to witness all of this,” confides the photographer.

The young man's lucky star has indeed left him behind. Thomas Castel who, before the Covid-19 pandemic, was a professional photographer, alternating contracts between the South-West and the island of Reunion, saw his contracts disappear due to the various confinements. And in 2022, he suffered a medical accident. It was the beginning of a descent into hell from which the forty-year-old still suffers from post-traumatic stress today.

Muscle wasting

“One day I felt pain in my lower abdomen and the doctors suspected a urinary infection, but they were wrong,” he says. A powerful antibiotic, from the quinolone family, is prescribed. Side effects are not expected. The forty-year-old feels like “a bad flu” a few hours after taking the medication. He eventually falls asleep but things get worse when he wakes up. “When I stood up, I fell. I didn't understand, I was confused. I couldn't get up, I had no more strength in my legs. In two, three hours, it was ruined. »

For seven days, Thomas Castel goes from the emergencies of Dax to those of Bayonne. “I was told it would pass in two days, except that it never happened. I had all the side effects of the antibiotic, except the tachycardia: anxiety attacks, suicidal attacks. Above all, it attacks the DNA of the tendons, which means that we end up with baby strength. »

The photographer spent the next month lying on a friend's couch. His muscles are visibly melting: he loses 10 centimeters of thigh circumference. “When I went back to the doctor, in June 2022, I was told to get a wheelchair, that nothing could be done for me. »

For five months, Thomas Castel survived, still plagued by anxiety and suicidal attacks. Until the day he called the Napoléon clinic in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, saying that he was going to do the worst. “I had reached the end of my strength. They told me to hold on, that a place would become available. It was in November. I said to myself: 'There are doctors, nurses, physiotherapists… I have a chance of getting through this, I just have to concentrate on rehabilitation'. »

The clinic has just acquired a treadmill allowing rehabilitation with a reduction in body weight and the mechanical functioning of walking. “We are in weightlessness, in fact,” explains the photographer. Thanks to this machine, I was able to get the joint working again because my foot had become rigid. I told the doctor: ''I'm not going out until I've walked around Lake Christus.'' That's what happened four months later. It was the desire to take photos again that pushed me to move forward. You could say that photography saved my life. »

La Feriascapade, symbole fort

Getting back into nature is beneficial. Stress eases, anxiety attacks become less frequent. “When I started nature photography again, I saw things that I no longer saw before,” continues the photographer. That's when I created my Facebook page, to share all this. I photographed the Pyrenees range from the Grand Mail, in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax. It caught on straight away. »

Gradually through physiotherapy and osteopathic sessions, and also through personal research, Thomas Castel gradually regains his strength and energy. His work suffers. “When I was able to start driving again and go to Capbreton, my photos reflected my progress. It meant: 'Look, I've made it this far.'”

The young man does not stop there. After going around Lake Christus, he sets himself an ambitious challenge. “My osteo told me that it would be a strong symbol for the victims if I managed to run the Feriascapade. It stayed in the back of my mind. I figured if I took it at my own pace, I could do it. » The day after his 42^e anniversary, in pouring rain, Thomas Castel completed the 10 kilometer course of the race opening the Feria de Dax in 1 hour 30 minutes.

Need for material

The challenge taken on injects a dose of hope and optimism into the young man: he feels ready and sufficiently armed to work for himself again. But here again, the path is winding. “I am considered a person with a disability and as such I am entitled to “company” assistance. When I decided to relaunch, it was 6,300 euros. But the 1^is January 2025, the State lowered it to 3,000 euros. To obtain it, my project must amount to 7,500 euros and I must contribute 4,500 euros, which is impossible, given that I have no income. »

Hence the creation of an online fundraiser to help him in his project. “I would need 5,000 euros, that corresponds to the purchase of equipment adapted to my disability. My old Reflex is very heavy, at least four kilos. On a day that can last sixteen hours, it's very complicated. I would have to work with devices weighing 1 kilo maximum. »

Despite everything, Thomas Castel continues to track the stars with his equipment, even his mobile phone, which was used in particular to photograph the arcus at Capbreton.

“It’s neither comfortable nor reliable. My old device has suffered a little too much. Basically, it's like a car with 650,000 kilometers: the sensor can fail at any time. I have plans in mind to do a lot more, right now I'm at 20% of what I know how to do. I'm losing customer requests. I consider that a right has been taken away from me, it's like someone gave me a knife. I don't want to fall again. » In the meantime, Thomas Castel “keeps hope” and continues to roll his eyes to the sky, without ever giving up.