THE CRASH.
In 2023, I was involved in a very serious car-vs-bike accident, which nearly caused my death.
Here’s the story ︎
BEFORE:
This was my Salsa Warbird.
I built it one part after the other in early 2023 in order to replace my Omnium CXC. It was so perfect that I thought that I was going to keep it for the rest of my life. Which was almost the case, but not quite as expected…
AFTER:
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, BOOM… UNPLUGGED FROM LIFE.• What & how:
I was returning home at night from a weekly group ride around Paris, and BOOM.
According to the police, I crossed an intersection without checking for oncoming traffic, when I should have stopped to let a car go by.
I was apparently the one at fault.
The impact sent me straight into a coma.
The impact sent me straight into a coma.
Three weeks later, I eventually woke up, with absolutely no idea where I was, why I was there, or what had happened.
It felt to me like waking up from a 30-minute nap. But it was was actually a three-week nap…
The medical staff told me that thay couldn’t tell if I would ever wake up again, and that without a helmet, I would have been gone for sure.
My mom later told me that at some point, things were looking so bad that she was talking about organ donation with the medical staff…
For a few months, I was lying in a hospital bed all day. I couldn’t walk anymore, or even simply stand up on my own.
Taking a shower consisted in getting washed by someone else… But hey, at least I was still here.
• UPDATE - June 2025, a year and a half later.
I attended a rehab hospital several times a week for over a year. I learned how to walk again, and even how to ride a bike again!
My first bike ride had to be on a stationary rehab bike – something I never thought I would say or do one day.
I still have a few after-effects from that: I have very annoying speech difficulties (because of some neurological damage), and my right eye is no longer aligned with the other, which is forcing me to mask it to avoid double vision.
But at least I'm not in a wheelchair, or in a wooden box.
• UPDATE - October 2026 - Three years later.
The accident happened three years ago.
Today, I still have difficulties expressing myself, and my right eye is still messed up and will never recover. I’m still wearing that mask over my glasses to avoid double vision, probably for ever.
THE REALISATION, & THE BOOK.
After waking up from the coma and spending several days collecting my thoughts, I remembered that I photographed bicycles.
When I realised that I could have disappeared forever, I also realised that the same would have happened to my photos, as they only existed in digital form. I didn’t really like this thought.
I wondered: how can I make sure my photos will still be around after I die?
The answer was simple: turn them into a book! Find out more about this book on this page.
× FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ME, MY PHOTOS, THE ACCIDENT, AND MY BOOK IN THIS VIDEO︎
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