Confined to his wheelchair for five years, when one of the bullets fired by the author of the mosque attack severed his spine, the survivor Aymen Derbali is forced into solitary confinement once again because of the COVID-19, which could be fatal to him due to his condition.
Photo Stevens Leblanc
Aymen Derbali at his home where he is confined.
On January 29, 2017, Aymen Derbali could very well have been the seventh victim of the mosque attack.
One of the seven bullets that hit him severed his spine, causing four cardiac arrests and acute respiratory distress in the following hours.
Five years later, the miracle of this sad evening admits not realizing that all this time has passed. “It passed very quickly for me, five years. It looks like it happened yesterday,” reflects the 45-year-old father.
Two painful years
However, the first two years were long and difficult: the man worked hard in intensive care, in the hospital and in rehabilitation.
So much so that his daughter, who was only 11 months old during the tragedy, naively told him that he had no childhood memories of his father.
“She said to me: when I was little, I had no father”, reports the man with emotion.
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“It is really very important the presence of the father. I imagine the bitterness and grief of the families of my brothers who fell that night,” said the survivor, thinking of the six victims.
Five years later, Mr. Derbali has been able to gain some motor skills in his hands and fingers, but he will never be able to leave his wheelchair.
In addition, another enemy appeared during his long rehabilitation, COVID-19.
Unable to cough
Aymen Derbali’s lung capacity has been significantly reduced by his disability, in particular because he is no longer able to cough.
“It haunts me a little bit […] It’s really problematic for me, this virus, especially in the event of respiratory distress, ”he explains.
COVID-19 thus forced the man into “additional isolation”.
“I have really been in total isolation for two years. Since the last wave, I don’t go out anymore, in fact, ”reveals the one who knows the anguish of seeing his life stick to a respirator.
The heart, the head, the breath
The opportunities to sink and give up everything have therefore been numerous since January 2017. But the father of two children is resilient and accepts his fate with aplomb.
Photo archives Annie T. Roussel
The security perimeter around the great mosque of Quebec during the police intervention on January 29, 2017.
“I believe in fate, it’s part of life. Misfortune can happen and you have to assimilate it and make the effort to pass the zone of turbulence”, says Aymen Derbali philosophically, leaving the bitterness behind him.
Thanks to his faith and his family, he believes he got through the troubled times without fear of returning.
“Thank God my heart, head and breath are holding up; these are the three most important things for me”, concludes the survivor.
