Jordan, a 31-year-old football player, died Thursday evening after being struck by lightning on a field. A few hours later, many relatives gathered, including his father, to express their grief.
The shock at the Gabriel-Péri stadium. After the death of a man in Courrières (Pas-de-Calais), struck by lightning during football training this Thursday, May 23 in the evening, dozens of people gathered in the premises of the local club.
On the gates, several candles were lit in memory of Jordan, 31, amateur footballer and coach at AS Courrières. “I’m shocked. I can’t believe it,” confides a woman on BFMTV, before breaking down in tears.
“Lightning rose from his feet to his head”
Thursday evening, lightning struck shortly before 8 p.m. on the pitch of the Gabriel-Péri stadium. Jean-Pierre, coach at the club, witnessed the scene.
“The coach said ‘guys, let’s go back’,” he remembers. “It was Jordan who was struck by lightning. The lightning went from his feet to his head, I saw everything,” he adds.
From then on, everyone contacted emergency services. “They told me to put him on his back. Christophe (another trainer, Editor’s note) did the cardiac massage and the firefighters intervened afterwards,” adds the man, survival blanket around his neck.
But when Jean-Pierre approaches Jordan, he can only accept the sad reality. “He had no pulse. It’s horrible. He’s a boy I consider my son,” he said.
The victim’s father present on site
Around the stadium Thursday evening, Jordan’s father, Frédéric, came to his son’s bedside. “31 years old, imagine. He’s going to leave my little boy and my daughter-in-law all alone,” he declares on BFMTV. Because the football player and coach of the U13 section leaves behind a wife and a little boy. “I would have preferred it to be me,” he whispers.
He confides his great dismay. “He was in good health, I don’t understand. He was a good player and a good coach,” adds Frédéric.
Two other people, one seriously injured and suffering from chest pain, were taken to hospital. In the city and the department, support for Jordan’s family and friends is mobilizing.
On Facebook, while his former club paid tribute to him, one of his former teammates added his comment. “Rest in peace Jordan. I will always remember your excellent left paw, the flying kisses my former teammate,” writes Sofiane.
Pauline Delevoye and Guillaume Barki with Martin Regley
