Anthony Desjardins, the Parkinson's patient who carried the Olympic flame in Montpellier

Bearer of the flame: four minutes of legend in the life of Anthony Desjardins. – Stéphane Spatafora

Anthony Desjardins : “Un message pour les malades de Parkinson”. – Jamaya

Ce lundi 13 mai, à Montpellier, le Clarensacois a fait partie des cent porteurs de la flamme olympique. Le souvenir d’une vie…

Four minutes of legend in a life, a very short night of celebration, an essential nap to recover! This Tuesday, the day after a day "among the most intensely emotional days of my life, the one that I will still ramble about when I am old ", Anthony Desjardins, back in Clarensac, still has difficulty coming down from his little cloud and realizing what he has just experienced. "I’carried the Olympic flame to Monpellier !", he smiles, still moved.

Two hundred meters of asphalt between the station and the town hall around 6:35 p.m., accompanied by his family and friends "where I  rsquo;I felt like I was stealing the torch in my hand. I heard my name chanted in the audience, I was pumped with adrenaline…" So much so that he will even have to slow down before passing the flame on to the next one, ahead of the ultra-precise timing of the course. "How to describe what we feel ? Joy, tears, pride…" A combo for seventh heaven!

A golden ring to remember the flame we carried.

Having suffered from Parkinson's since the age of 38

For Anthony Desjardins, this great adventure is also a message of hope. At 40, he has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for three years. "Out of 300 000 people affected by this incurable neurodegenerative disease, only 5 % are under the age of 40".His credo: sport to slow the progression of the disease. He practices it and promotes it in videos on Youtube with a series Un parki chez les pros, immersion in clubs – handball, basketball, volleyball, ping-pong, surfing… to prove that you have to dare and push your limits… despite the illness.

A fifteen-second video to be selected

However, he almost followed the path of the flame from his sofa in Clarensac, he recalls. Last summer, he came across an ad on the internet to be a torch bearer and responded. A candidacy supported by Jean-Louis Dufloux, the national president of France Parkinson who says of him: "He is the best representative of the interest of sport in care of Parkinson". Refusal and big disappointment ! "Last chance, I was finally told a few weeks later: "send us a 15-second on-camera video". Fifteen seconds to reiterate the importance of sport for Parkinson's patients but "I don't really believe in it anymore…" Until this phone call that lights up the stars again: "We chose you straight away when we saw your video. Your commitment touched us!"

A combo of emotions

From this crazy day of May 13, everything will remain in his memory, the little joys and the big emotions: "The beautiful white outfit , the summer camp atmosphere on the bus, the tears, the party in the evening, the golden ring of the torch as a souvenir…" Only one regret: not having seen Kevin Mayer, decathlon champion, who lit the cauldron at the end.

In 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, boxer Mohamed Ali, suffering from Parkinson's, set the cauldron ablaze with a trembling hand. A poignant image seen on mondovision. For the Paris Olympics, much more modestly, "I am the Parkinson's patient who carried the Olympic flame", lance Anthony Desjardins&nbsp ;: a message, a symbol, a hope for all those who are sick like him.

on youtube anthonydesjard1ns

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