His extraordinary destiny had inspired the hit film “Intouchables” released in 2011. Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, a French businessman who became a quadriplegic in 1993, died Thursday at the age of 72. Information that Le Parisien was able to confirm with his older brother.
“You can’t imagine what he suffered. It was endless pain every day, every night, it was unbearable ”, confides to the Parisian his older brother, Reynier Pozzo di Borgo. “But thanks to that, he has done a lot for the disability. »
“His humor and his intelligence will be missed”
A few hours earlier, the directors of the film Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache had revealed the news on social networks: “We have just learned with great sadness the disappearance of our friend Philippe Pozzo di Borgo. By accepting that we adapt his story in Intouchables he has changed our lives and the lives of many vulnerable and fragile people, ”they wrote.
“We keep the image of a courageous, dignified, humble and combative man. His humor and his intelligence will be missed, they continue. Having known him for all these years was a rare privilege. We will try to continue all of his fights. We think very much of his wife and children. »
“He died last night in Marrakech,” Éric Toledano told AFP in the evening. “It’s a shock and it’s above all an immense sadness because it’s a relationship that has an incredible longevity. We stayed in touch, we did operations together.
François Cluzet: “Thank you for the love you gave us”
This Friday, the actor François Cluzet reacted to the death of the one he had played, nailed to an armchair, in “Intouchables” in 2011. He sent us this text to pay tribute to Philippe Pozzo Di Borgo. “Philippe was a luminous being in the dark night of his ordeal, writes the actor. He drove away all compassion by being interested only in you, he asked you questions and after two minutes, you had forgotten that he was in a wheelchair. I had told him that I would try to wear the colors of his goodness as high as possible, ”explains the actor.
“When Nakache and Toledano asked me to come to production to try out the chair, I wanted to be alone before sitting in it. I thought that I had had the same accident as him but after being terribly moved, I tried to put his heart and his joie de vivre into it. During filming, the effect of sitting on this wheelchair for a very long time made the team look away from me. I think of all those who are in this situation and that no one wants to see. Fly Philippe, fly very high now, nothing bad will happen to you and we will never be able to forget you. He had given his rights to directors on the sole condition that they make a funny film. Congratulations Philippe and thank you for the love you gave us”.
Part of the profits from the film donated to his association
Actor Omar Sy, powered by his role in “Intouchables”, also paid tribute to him on his Instagram account, with a similar message. ” Forever in our hearts… “
The French know part of its history: Count Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, played by François Cluzet on the screen, was a former businessman from a large aristocratic family. Victim of a paragliding accident that left him paraplegic in 1993, he needed a “handyman”. An unlikely friendship is born with this employee, Abdel Yasmin Sellou (played by Omar Sy), from a disadvantaged housing estate.
The film adaptation was a huge success: with 19.5 million admissions in France and 32 million outside France, “Intouchables” is to date the second most seen French film in the world, after Lucy by Luc Besson.
According to his brother, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo had donated his fee received thanks to the film (inspired by his work, The Second Breath) to the Simon de Cyrène association, of which he was the honorary president. This association aims to develop shared houses between disabled and able-bodied people. “Reality has taken precedence over fiction! Philippe had accepted the adaptation on the condition that 5% of the profits be donated to the association, which allowed Simon de Cyrène to take off and open the shared houses, ”confirms a spokesperson.
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo shared his life between the city of Essaouira, in Morocco, where he lived with his second wife Khadija as well as his children, and the Nantes hospital (Loire-Atlantique) where he traveled regularly to receive care. .
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