“We are a Red Cross family”… Marie, Didier and their daughter Marine are all volunteers

Volunteering as a common thread in their family history. Marie, Didier and their daughter Marine are all three Red Cross first aiders. A commitment that has become a passion over time. “It’s rare that, during a meal, we don’t talk about the association. Even if it means annoying our two other daughters, who are not volunteers,” says Marie with a smile.

For Didier, the adventure began thirty-two years ago. “I took first aid training at the Red Cross. And it was a revelation, I immediately wanted to get involved, ”he says. Two years later, Marie followed suit, because she needed first aid training to lead a camp as a scout leader: “I was 19, Denis 24, and it was love at first sight. We did call duty together, we had a drink afterwards, never to leave each other again. And I joined Didier at the local Vaucresson unit, because it was obvious to commit myself”. Thirty years later, their love story is still going on, and what they experience as volunteers helps to cement their couple: “It’s a source of sharing and exchange”, comments Didier modestly.

Didier intervened at the Bataclan

Even if their professional lives are busy, Didier being a legal officer in an insurance company and Marie, a medical secretary, each of them devotes a good part of his free time to the association. Didier even assumed the responsibility of president of the local unit for nine years. Marie, she never took a break from association, even when she was pregnant. And she has chained positions in the association, being in turn deputy local director of the Vaucresson unit, secretary and vice-president of the antenna…

To preserve the family balance, Didier dedicates himself to his first aid missions during the week and Marie, at the weekend. And if they are called in as reinforcements and certain missions present risks, the couple takes great care not to participate in them together. Like the evening of November 13, 2015. “I intervened at the Bataclan, but Marie stayed at home. I rescued injured people in a restaurant near the concert hall, where they had been repatriated. These are images that remain,” says Didier. But not all missions are as dramatic: “I remember the 1998 World Cup final. We were at the Stade de France, the supporters kissed us. It was super happy and it didn’t hurt, so we didn’t have to deal with very heavy cases, ”recalls Marie.

“Volunteering is the school of life”

The fact that they are both volunteers also allows them to understand each other’s constraints: “We’re not going to complain when the other comes home late, because we know that the hours on call are extendable. We can debrief our interventions together and review our knowledge of first aid together,” says Marie.

The whole family before an intervention. – Mary Charles

Their humanist values, their desire to help others, Marie and Didier transmitted them to their three daughters. “We are a Red Cross family,” says Marie. Our three daughters, we brought them with us to training, to food drives in supermarkets. And since they were little, they know all the volunteers who work with us”, explains Marie. No wonder then that they gave Marine, 20, a taste for commitment. “It clicked on the evening of November 13, 2015. I was 12 at the time, but I was frustrated that I couldn’t help. So, as soon as I was old enough, 16, I took first aid training and became a volunteer,” she says. Missions that are complementary to the nursing studies she is following. “It fulfills my need to feel useful. And volunteering is the school of life,” she says.

“We are a very tight-knit team”

When she is on call, Marine sometimes finds herself with one of her parents: “We are called by the Samu to visit people who are experiencing chest pain, have felt unwell, have a suspected stroke… Before ‘they are taken care of at the hospital if necessary,’ she says. Small frustration: the volunteers generally do not know what becomes of the people they have accompanied: “We sometimes receive a letter afterwards, but it is very rare”, explains the young girl.

Sometimes, too, rescuers arrive too late. “I remember one person whose heart didn’t start again after a stoppage. It’s obviously striking, but we always have psychological support after difficult interventions, ”says Marine. And back home, the young girl has four ears available to listen to her: “We form a very close-knit team,” she underlines. We had noticed.

This Saturday, Adriana Karembeu, ambassador of the association, accompanied by Philippe Da Costa, president of the French Red Cross, will launch the collection week (until June 11), Paris, Nelson-Mandela garden at 10:00 a.m. Then they will go to Lille, Place du Théâtre at 3:30 p.m.

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