He hasn’t forgotten anything. Twenty years later, Rachid Mehzoum still remembers the details of that evening of December 2, 2004. From the darkness of the night and the cold of the canal, where he threw himself to rescue the occupant of this Mercedes that had gone straight, rather than following the sharp turn at this point on rue du Jourdain, in Agen. In this vehicle which sinks inexorably into the water, the life of Albert Ferrasse hangs by a thread and on the courage of this young Moroccan in an irregular situation. Rachid Mehzoum will save the emblematic rugby leader, whose important status he knows nothing about. This plunge will change the condition of Ait-Abou’s child.
A trained pharmacist, who came to France for a two-month work contract on a farm, the man will obtain a job and a residence permit following this rescue. “People think I saved him. In fact, it was he who saved me,” recalls, with immense gratitude, the father of the family. This Tuesday, November 5, he went to the stele dedicated to this rugby monument.
“Bebert”
A commemorative work planted as a reminder in a square near Armandie, on land owned by Upsa, on the edge of the ring road. A work that owes a lot to one man: Robert Gimbert. A “big mouth”, full of tenderness, who has two French championship titles with the SUA under his belt. The first gleaned in 1965 as a player on the reserve team, the second as coach of the Crabos, during the 1990-1991 season.
“Bébert”, as everyone recognizes, is a great admirer of the president. A feeling that he shares with Rachid Mehzoum, who became, in a solemn handover, responsible for the maintenance of this bronze stele, sculpted by Marcel Rossi, from Bazens, melted by the Rybacki establishments in Blanquefort-sur-Briolance and fixed on a granite stone from Brazil, offered by the Villaret de Brax house.
10 centimeters
“Who else but to pass this responsibility on to him?” », says Robert Gimbert, who fought fiercely against the moving of the memorial to Armandie. A concern shared by the new delegate who will have time to devote to his new task. “I am currently convalescing after a work accident which cost me a shoulder,” says the man, presenting his upper limb. The one handed to Albert Ferrasse, stuck in this German coupe close to being buried under the waves.
“I wanted to go home and I ended up on rue du Jourdain. I had a slump then, without realizing anything, I found myself in the canal, with water up to above my chin, at mouth level. But I didn’t even feel cold. There, I just told myself that I was screwed. I couldn’t open the doors. The one on the left was blocked by the embankment and I couldn’t open the one on the right. With 10 centimeters of extra water, I was dead,” Albert Ferrasse testified shortly after his release from the hospital in an interview he gave to “Sud Ouest” at the time. Twenty years ago…
