Sn the quays of Rouen, Sunday October 20 in the morning, the heavy silence is broken only by the strides of joggers and the complaints of birds. The Seine flows slowly, as if nothing had happened.
However, it is she who has just swallowed up the life of Owen, 19 years old, on the night of October 5 to 6, 2024, while he was returning home to Petit-Quevilly after an evening spent at the nightclub Le So. His body was recovered from the river on Tuesday October 15, near Canteleu. The autopsy carried out since concluded that it was an accidental fall.
“That could be my son”
A short distance from the scene of the tragedy, the young man’s family waits in silence near hangar 106. Around 500 people dressed in white responded to his call to walk along the quays to pay him their last respects.
“That could be my sonexplains Laurence, dark face and white rose in hand. I didn’t know him, but I’m here to support the family. If something like that happened to me, I would like someone to be there for me.” “It doesn’t just happen to other people, echoes another mother who came with her daughter Éléa, 20 years old, who knew Owen from afar. “I have a son who is two years older than him. As a mother, this tragedy upsets me”she continues, stifling a sob.
“Die so young”
The start of the march is soon given. Close and strangers follow Owen’s last steps along the Seine, from the left bank to the So, where the young man spent his final evening.
“This is not the first young person to die in these conditions, Monique is indignant. We should move Le So and all the other bars from the quays to avoid further tragedies”.
In the procession, we exchange memories about this kid at low mass. “very funny” et “always smiling”. “We played a season in the same football team within the ASPTT, he was always there for the others, says Antoine. To die so young in an accident, we say to ourselves that it’s unfair”. “Since Owen disappeared, I no longer go home by bus alone in the eveningexplains Sofiane, 18, who participated in the search to find him in vain. I call my mother to come home with me. »
Arriving in front of Le So, the walk stops and silence falls again. Owen’s family finally approaches the river to throw roses and balloons into it, as final offerings. Before reading a message written by his mother: “By paying tribute to Owen, I want to send a message: take care of yourself and those around you, so that this never happens again. »
