Corinne Brosseau - a true heroine.

Corinne Brosseau is a true heroine.

She might claim not to be one, but Stéphane, a 40-year-old wheelchair-bound man from the western French town of Bouguenais, certainly thinks she is.

Corinne Brosseau (screenshot BFM TV report)

Brosseau saved his life, pulling him out of the path of a train reportedly travelling at 170 kilometres an hour.

As Stéphane told the regional daily Ouest France, he was taking the level crossing in the town just as he did every day to go to work.

"I was right in the middle of the crossing when I heard the bell go and saw the barriers come down," he said.

"And for some reason - I don't know why - my wheelchair got stuck in the tracks," he continued.

"I could hear a train coming. I was terrified."

Luckily for him though, it was at that moment that Brosseau arrived to rescue him - and she only just managed.

"It was raining, the barriers had gone down and I could see there was a man in a wheelchair in the middle of the crossing clearly unable to move," she told Europe 1 radio.

"I got out of my car, rushed over to him and after a couple of attempts managed to pull him from his chair to the side of the track and out of the path of an oncoming train."

Her quick thinking and actions undoubtedly saved Stéphane's life because the train hit the wheelchair full on, leaving it fit only for the scrap yard.

(screenshot BFM TV report)

But Brosseau remained modest about the part she played in the rescue.

"I only did what anyone would have done under the circumstances," she said, admitting that her arms had ached for the rest of the day.

"It was instinctive and I'm convinced that we all have it in us to find the strength to do what's necessary," she added.

But for Stéphane there's no doubting that she's his heroine.

"She's an extraordinary woman," he told BFM TV.

"She saved my life."

Disabled man denied entry to Singles club New Year's Eve dance

Ah 'Tis the season of Goodwill - except it seems in the eastern French city of Dijon, where the apparent decision by a Singles club not to allow a handicapped man to join in the New Year festivities has upset both the man and his mother and put a definite dampener on their end-of-year fun.

Sébastien Mertel is 30 years old. Although he is physically disabled and his face is partially paralysed, he can get about quite easily, isn't confined to a wheelchair and is fairly independent.

Sébastien Mertel (screenshot From France 3 television report)

His only problem, according to his mother Danièle, is that he doesn't find it easy meeting new people.

"So we decided that we would both spend the New Year at the Singles club dance," the divorced mother of three told the regional daily Le Bien public.

"It would be a good way we thought of spending a pleasant evening."

She contacted Sylvie Frelet, the director of the Association Effervescence - the club organising the evening's event - to try to register and that's where the problems began and the version of what happened differs.

Sylvie Frelet "I never said he couldn't come to the dance" (screenshot from France 3 television report)

According to Sébastien's mother she was told her son wouldn't be welcome because his presence would make other participants feel uncomfortable; something Frelet hotly denies ever having said.

"I never said he couldn't come to the dance," she insisted in an interview with France 3 television, saying that she had advised his mother that it perhaps wouldn't be the best way for Sébastien to meet new people.

"I suggested that he might like to participate in some of our other events such as those where we have workshops and are in much smaller groups," she said.

"That way it would be easier for him talk to people and to express himself rather than at a dance where it's more of a festive occasion."

Aha so Frelet is indeed a kind soul and her decision had been in the interests of all concerned and not in the slightest bit discriminatory.

Except according to Sébastien's mother, he had already been refused membership of the club a couple of months ago when he made inquiries to join the very same "smaller groups and workshops" that Frelet was now recommending.

The reason given at the time? "Because his disability could inconvenience other members of the group," said his mother.

She and Sébastien have decided to lodge a complaint with La Haute Autorité de lutte contre les discriminations et pour l'égalité (The French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission, Halde).

Happy New Year Madame Frelet!

Philippe Croizon's inspirational Channel swim

By any definition, Philippe Croizon is an extraordinary man, and surely and inspiration to us all.

At the weekend he swam the Channel - the 34-kilometre stretch of water separating Britain from France.

Not much special about that perhaps; it has been done many a time.

The difference is that Croizon doesn't have any arms or legs.



The 42-year-old father of two had his limbs amputated after receiving an electrical shock while removing a television aerial from a roof 16 years ago.

It was while he lay in his bed recovering from the final amputation that the idea of swimming the Channel came to him, as he explained on national radio following his exploit at the weekend.

"As I lay there I saw a report on television of a woman who had swum the Channel," he said.

"That's when I said to myself 'Why shouldn't I give that a try?' and here we are 16 years later and it's my turn."

He spoke to the local authorities about his idea and they supported him, gave him the use of the municipal pool and found him a trainer.

"When Valérie (Carbonel, his coach) first told me to get in the water and show her what I could do, I think I must have managed about 25 metres, I was out of breath and I didn't know what to do without arms and legs. It was terrible," he admitted.

"She couldn't believe I was serious about wanting to swim the Channel," he continued.

"But I told her that once I got an idea into my head I was going to see it through to the end."

Croizon had prosthetic legs made with fins attached which would help him move more quickly and over the past two years trained regularly, putting in more than 30 hours a week.

It was a tough schedule that more than paid dividends as not only did he manage to make it from Folkestone in Kent to Cap Gris Nez, he also did it much more quickly than the allotted 24 hours he had given himself; completing the feat in just over 13 hours.

And that in spite of the pain and fatigue that set in during the crossing.

"Somehow even though I was in pain for much of the swim, I profited in a sense from what I had experienced after my accident," he said.

"It might sound bizarre to say that but after losing my limbs I was hospitalised for two years and during that time I had to overcome hurdles to learn how to become independent," he continued.

"And that period in a very real sense helped me in my training. Every time I reached a barrier and I thought I couldn't go on, I went beyond it."

The message Croizon hopes others will learn from what he has done is that a handicap doesn't stop a person from living.

"Of course there's suffering and we have the right to cry when it hurts, but you also have to lift your head up high and live life," he said

"I have a handicap but I didn't want to be dictated to or dominated by it."

EasyJet denies handicapped man on board

(Image from Wikipedia, photographer w:es:Usuario:Barcex)

Budget airline EasyJet has once again refused to allow an unaccompanied handicapped person to fly because he presented what the company called a "security problem".

On Monday 48-year-old Joseph Etcheveste was due to take a flight from the south-western French city of Biarritz to Paris.

Etcheveste is paraplegic following a car accident and had an appointment in the French capital for a medical examination.

He had checked in his luggage and was waiting in the departure lounge but, as the national daily Libération reports, when boarding began was turned back because he was unaccompanied and as far as EasyJet was concerned presented a "security problem".

"It was humiliating," he said. "I've never been treated like that before."

"I made my booking one month in advance and told them that I was in a wheelchair, but nobody said anything," he continued.

"How come other airlines allow me to travel by myself but not EasyJet?"

The answer lies in the company's regulations which state that passengers "must be self-reliant in emergency and evacuation situations."

As the regulations explain, that means "they must be able to undo their own seat belt, put on their own oxygen mask, life jacket and make their way to the nearest emergency exit unaided."

The reason, according to EasyJet is "because our cabin crew will not be able to concentrate their efforts on individual passengers in emergency situations."

Although the director for EasyJet France, François Bacchetta, disputes Etcheveste's version of exactly what happened he confirmed that it's company policy not to allow unaccompanied handicapped passengers aboard flights.

"We make absolutely no compromise when it comes to passenger safety," he said.

"In an emergency we have an obligation to be able to evacuate all passengers within 90 seconds."

EasyJet has promised to refund Etcheveste the cost of his ticket but the airline could face a law suit from both the Association des paralysés de France and La Haute Autorité de lutte contre les discriminations et pour l'égalité (the French anti-discrimination watchdog, Halde).

Halde is currently dealing with a complaint lodged against the airline for a similar incident in March this year when 38-year-old Marie-Patricia Hoarau was removed from an EasyJet Paris-Nice flight because she was in a wheelchair and travelling alone.

The crew reportedly insisted she get off the 'plane even though a fellow passenger had volunteered to be her official companion.