Written by Yves Arsenal et Quentin Bral
Arnaud Couillard is president of the Normandy squash league. On January 21, 2023, struck by a heart attack, he collapsed in the middle of training. Today, the fifty-year-old has resumed his favorite sport. He had only a 3% chance of surviving. Testimony.
“We are alive for half a second. After that, we are dead. I had a cardiac arrest for 25 minutes.” January 21, 2023, as usual, for 13 years, Arnaud Couillard wets his jersey on his squash court. But nothing goes as planned. After 15 minutes, the fifty-year-old collapses. Heart attack. He has what is called sudden death of the athlete.
After restarting his heart, “I was put into a coma“, says the player, “and I stayed in intensive care for about two weeks. There was not much hope that I would wake up“. Only 2-3% chance.”But I woke up fully conscious and in possession of my head, my legs, everything… a year later, the medical profession doesn’t know why I did that.“
A year later, he started playing squash again. With all the precautions.”I have an optical sensor that allows me to monitor my heart rate,” describes Arnaud Couillard. “I can’t wear a chest strap anymore because of my defibrillator, I set my own limits.”
Setting limits so as not to provoke the worst. Today, Arnaud and his entourage know how to manage these situations, but at the time of the tragedy, everyone seemed powerless. Or almost.I was the first to not know these gestures.”admits Sarah Khelil, Arnaud Couillard’s partner “and luckily it was a volunteer firefighter who was there, who played squash and who was able to save him in fact”.
The referee who was behind me, if he had not known how to do cardiac massage, I would no longer be alive. And if someone else had done it, but later, I would have mental after-effects today.
VIDEO. The report by Quentin Bral and Emma Stenfield
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“We all looked at each other, there were about twenty of us players, we know each other very well and there were maybe two people who could do those things,” adds the athlete’s partner.
First aid gestures that were able to save Alain. And make him want to return the favor today by organizing a tournament for the Heart and Research Association to collect donations.
There are a maximum of 3 out of 10 French people who are trained in first aid. Knowing that of these 3 out of 10 French people, there are barely 15% who feel capable of intervening.
Vincent-Pascal Laplaige, Normandy Prevention Training trainer
“And I told myself that it was normal that as many people as possible should be trained in very simple actions: PLS, getting a defibrillator, knowing what to say when calling for help..”
Ultimately, Arnaud Couillard is a survivor marked forever.”Every day I have to think about it,” “does he give himself up”since we don’t know why we wonder why it wouldn’t happen again where we’re going to wake up tomorrow all these little things that we have to work on.”
The squash player has probably won the most important match of his life. Every year in France, sudden death of athletes causes between 800 and 1200 deaths.
