He had prepared for it. In a mixture of resignation and liberation in the face of right knee cancer – declared at the age of 16 – which eventually resurfaced and which Matthieu Lartot made public last week, the journalist from France Télévisions revealed, in an interview at Midol, that he will be forced to amputation. The surgery will be preceded by a period of chemotherapy.
“After the chemo, the surgeons will have to amputate my right leg: it’s a question of survival, explains Lartot. I’m starting chemo on Monday. After that, I’ll have three weeks to rebuild my immunity that the first medications destroyed. Afterwards, it will be the surgical act (amputation) and finally, the equipment and rehabilitation. Honestly, I take it as a release. This work, moreover, I have been doing it in my head for years. »
The 2023 World Cup in the back of your mind
For several reasons. The first being pain. The commentator says he had a fairly difficult VI Nations tournament due to severe leg pain “which quickly became unbearable”. The second concerns a prosthesis that he has had for 25 years. This one “has a limited duration and my leg was too damaged to have another one. So I knew amputation would happen sooner or later. But between preparing for it psychologically and waking up after the operation with a missing limb, there is a gap that I do not control…”
Matthieu Lartot does not, however, abandon the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which he intends to at least live as a spectator, without refusing to return to the microphone of France TV.