“I wanted to inform you of this for transparency”: the mayor of Rouen and first deputy secretary of the PS, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, announced on Wednesday that he had been suffering from bladder cancer since 2022, specifying that he was doing “very well”.
“To date I have no metastases”
“I was diagnosed, in early 2022, with my first cancerous bladder tumor,” he said at a press conference. After an operation in 2022, then another in 2023, the 47-year-old elected official underwent a third intervention in June 2024.
He specified that his cancer was not very advanced but “high grade, that is to say that the cells are very aggressive”, explaining the recurrences.
“I am not to be pitied. To date I have no metastases. For the rest I am in good health,” he wrote in a letter.
“Has illness caused me to give up? Or to work less? Or to commit less? Or to be less present? Not only, no, but it’s even the opposite,” he said, promising to break the “taboo” of cancer in the professional world.
Consequently, the mayor of Rouen announced an “action plan” in his city and its Metropolis to “fight against the isolation of people during their illness”, “facilitate the return to employment” and “develop an ecosystem caring, aware and welcoming professional.”
A cancer of “environmental origin”
“We want to talk about all this in a simpler, more fluid way, without taboos. We are going to create discussion groups, as they say, reflection groups. We are going to invite personalities,” explained the mayor.
According to the mayor of Rouen, his cancer “is not of genetic origin”, emphasizing the “environmental origins” of this disease, that is to say in connection with “the quality of the air, the quality of food, water quality.
“Just a number. The cancer that I have, there are five times more in Seine-Maritime than in France, on a national average. » “I am fighting to improve the quality of life in our city,” he assured.
“An example of sincerity, courage and commitment”
After this announcement, former socialist president François Hollande quickly reacted on X: “I give you all my support and my friendship dear Nicolas. Your message is an example of sincerity, courage and commitment, which gives strength to those who fight with perseverance against the disease.”
The first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, for his part praised the “courageous fight” of Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, whom he regularly confronts on the line that the party must hold. “Cancer should no longer be a taboo. Thank you for the example and the hope. »
Finally, MEP Raphaël Glucksmann wrote: “All my solidarity and all my friendship dear Nicolas. Your courage and self-sacrifice command respect.”
France
