By Julien Ducouret
Published on
17 Apr 24 at 6:16
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An hour and a half, the duration of a football match soccer, spent discussing and above all listening to him. An interview during which the seriousness of the situation accommodates his smiles in this authentic story, of a humanity poignant, at home, in Chambly, in Oise.
Edward Rodrigoa 38-year-old father, opens the conversation by offering us a coffee with a particular flavor for the amount of effort that its preparation required.
At the end of the interview, when it’s time for “extra time”, that of the photo, he is asked to choose his posture.
November 14, 2021, the accident
Without any hesitation, Eduardo gets up from his chair, grabs a crutch, stands on his doorstep, straight as an exclamation point.
The man is standing and, symbolically, he is also standing in all his dignity! In the shared courtyard, neighbors greet him friendly; they are the usual witnesses of his daily struggle to reverse the handicap on the difficult life path that a part of fate imposed on him two and a half years ago.
The accident took place on November 14, 2021 during a match of the 7e tower of the French Football Cup, in Waziers, in the North. His team of Beauvais is not welcome among the Ch’tis. The players of this small club created by miners want to win at all costs; around the lawn, the atmosphere is noxious.
When “Edu” (his nickname) says “I regret nothing”, understand that it is “an action like I have done hundreds of times, I did not stupidly get into an aerial duel, even if there is had a palpable excess of commitment from the adversary.
Forty-second minute of play.
“I see a player on my left, he is determined. I don’t see the 9 coming behind my back – the referee didn’t even call a foul even though the intention was not good. At the moment of impact, I felt a shock. The most likely explanation is that I had whiplash. As soon as I fell, I told myself I had to get out of there. »
The spinal cord was affected, he was airlifted to Lille University Hospital. A few days later, Eduardo entered the Hopale Foundation in Berck (Pas-de-Calais) where a long and slow rehabilitation began.
In shock, the spinal cord is affected
“I didn’t have surgery, it was of no use. My right foot moved quite quickly, it gave me hope, he says. But it was hard on the left leg, it took a long time before there was any movement. I got up fairly quickly with the help of a walker, the approach was not assured. There was always this fear, this question: is it going to come back? »
Eleven months in this institute, where broken bodies have been repaired for more than a century, to fight fiercely to rebuild oneself (“I asked for additional sessions”), to also be confronted with greater misfortunes than one’s own. .
“Sometimes, I was embarrassed when I spoke with patients, I had the chance to recover some abilities and for them it did not improve. Some were happy to see me progress, others were jealous, I admit it myself… You envy the results of others, that’s human…”
There, life lessons run through the corridors. Edu will never forget these moments of fraternity spent with Rudy. This footballer African, seriously injured during a match in Egypt, “only his head is moving. He has been hospitalized in Berck for eight years. We talked a lot together. Seeing me progress, he had little touches, kind words…”
In November 2022, almost a year to the day after the accident, he arrived at La Châtaigneraie hospital center, in Menucourt, in the Val d’Oise, a reference in rehabilitation and functional re-education. And five months later, finally back home!
Between his sentences, he sometimes observes a little silence, stretching the fingers of his left hand to push back post-traumatic stiffness.
“My left leg is locked, I have a splint which is magical, it allows me to stand longer. The angle (when unfolding your arms) is not complete. Fatigue, stress or an infection increase spasticity (muscle rigidity). »
Every little win is a big one victory. » Today, it is much harder mentally than the first months because the progress is minimal, millimeter by millimeter. It takes more effort and it’s painful.
For the same lesion, each individual recovers differently and this cannot be explained. Even though it’s hard, I tell myself that I’m lucky. “
Eduardo returned to the accident site
Three days a week, at the wheel of his car equipped with controls adapted to his disability, he returns to Menucourt for four hours of exercises.
“My life was punctuated by sport. There, it’s another activity, but it’s still a sport, with the impression of being in perpetual preparation. Everyone tells me that my sporting background helps me in surpassing myself, willpower, determination… I am also helped by Florent Routier (one of his ex-coaches at FC Chambly). We put things in place, mental visualization work which is recognized in the field of neurological recovery. The goal is to walk a little longer, a little further. The biggest goal is to be independent in washing and dressing, things I can’t do and that’s what’s hardest to accept. »
The love of football
Elegant, creative player, scorer (often with a header) and model teammate… Eduardo Rodrigo can be proud of his football career. As a young graduate of US Ézanville-Écouen, from the ages of 12 to 17 he wore the jersey of the club from his town of Sarcelles. Then, he joined FC Saint-Leu where coach Jean-Marc Sabbatini launched him into the Division d’Honneur at just 18 years old.
With AS Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, where he remained for three seasons under the direction of the same coach, he experienced his first rise to the French Amateur Championship 2 (the current 5th national division). FC Chambly-Oise recruited him in 2011. “It’s the club where I stayed the longest, for eight years. »
There he knows the joys of the rise in National (3rd division) and the Coupe de France: an exploit against Reims (4-1), a Ligue 1 club, “one of my greatest memories, I had made two assists”, a match against Lyon of Valbuena and Lacazette (0-2), and this epic evening against Monaco (led 0-3, Chambly lost 4-5 after extra time!) where he met a star emerging, Kylian Mbappé. A rupture of the cruciate ligaments in one knee deprived him of the great adventure of 2018 where the Camblysian team reached the semi-finals (0-2 against Les Herbiers). The following year, when the club reached Ligue 2, he was not retained in the squad. “We make all the climbs, we reach the pro world and we can’t taste it, that’s a bad ending. I signed in Beauvais. »
A few months before his accident, in 2021, he obtained his player agent diploma, a profession he has been practicing since this winter. “When my physical condition allows me, I go to watch youth matches in relation to my professional activity. I focus on a restricted area that I know, in Chambly, Beauvais and Sarcelles. The more I evolve in this profession, the more it will be double-edged. With a disabled agent, in quotes, the relationship will be very strong or it will be the opposite between the player and me, because appearance plays a lot in his representation to a club. I will definitely face this situation. It will not influence my determination to succeed, on the contrary. »
The two opposing players involved in his accident never contacted him. So, a year ago, “in the dark for too long”, he called them “to move forward”, without obtaining “valid answers”. They assured him they did not remember what had happened.
“One was shocked, he asked me for news. In the other, there was no empathy, in fact he didn’t care. He told me: ‘I had nothing to do with it’. »
Eduardo also “felt the need” to return to Waziers, “to put an end to that. I also wanted to show my father,” he slips. So, six months ago, returning from a consultation with his neurosurgeon from Lille, he asked Angel to make a detour to the small town of Douaisis.
The two men went onto the field, “to where it happened, near the halfway line. Strangely, I had no emotion, the place seemed foreign to me.”
Jean-Luc GATELLIER
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