My journey with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
I’m 45 years old, I live in Burgundy, and I’m a journalist.
Heart disease runs in my family. My maternal grandfather was ill. I lost my mother when she was 52. The cardiologist realised there was something wrong in our family.
They discovered a gene. I had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I lived with this disease for more than 20 years without knowing how serious it really was.
The day everything stopped
I was at swimming pool when I went into cardiac arrest. I was resuscitated… and I woke up five days later from a coma.
When they told me they were going to implant a defibrillator, I didn’t even know what it was. For me, it was something for elderly people. I was 41.
I am the living proof that life-saving actions — calling for help, performing cardiac massage, using a defibrillator — save lives.
I don’t want there to be more people like my mother who die without a chance. This second chance, I’m going to do something with it.
Turning a second chance into action
I wrote a book about my experience called Cœur de Titane — Titanium Heart.
When I do book signings, I tell bookstores: I will happily sign my book — but invite firefighters or the Red Cross. The people who leave with the book should also leave with life-saving training.
Because awareness is not enough. People need to know what to do.
"My illness has opened many doors. I had the chance to carry the Olympic flame."
Living fully — not fearfully
What I want to tell cardiac patients is that they are not condemned to watch sport on television. The heart is a muscle and you have to train it. If you stay seated, you make things worse. You have to move. It helps with stress. It helps you live better.
My illness has opened many doors. I had the chance to carry the Olympic flame. It was a way to show a cardiac patient running — and not collapsing after 200 metres. It showed that life continues.
With hindsight, having cardiomyopathy gave me strength.
Today, I feel more alive than before. I want to do more. I want to enjoy life. I am more serene.
"Today, I feel more alive than before. I want to do more. I want to enjoy life. I am more serene."
From patient to advocate
I got involved in the Ligue contre la Cardiomyopathie. I did what I would have wanted when I was a patient. Because when you hear the words “heart failure” or “cardiovascular disease”, panic sets in.
But when you speak to someone who has lived it — someone with a defibrillator, someone who survived cardiac arrest — it changes everything.
We don’t give medical advice. We share lived experience. We show that you are not alone.
To those living with heart disease
Cardiac arrest is not the end of the story. You can live. You can move. You can rebuild.
It’s not always easy. It’s not a straight line, but life continues. And sometimes, paradoxically, what almost takes your life can give you a new way of living it.
