journalist Clémentine Vergnaud, 31, died of cancer

She made public, in a podcast published in the summer of 2023, her life facing the disease. Suffering from bile duct cancer, our colleague Clémentine Vergnaud died on December 23 after a year and a half of fierce struggle. She was 31 years old.

She hated being called a fighter. “I’m not a fighter. In fact, I just have no choice”, she said. Clémentine Vergnaud, 31, journalist at franceinfo, died Saturday December 23 in the morning. She had been suffering from bile duct cancer for over a year and a half. The franceinfo editorial staff has lost one of its own, a wonderful woman, a very talented journalist, a friend to many.

During these long months when she fought the illness, Clémentine showed incredible courage, unfailing determination and an immense joy of life. We all heard her strength of character and her lucidity in the podcast she made to tell the story of her life with the disease.

>>> “My life facing cancer: Clémentine’s diary”

In this podcast, she wanted to discuss her doubts, her hopes, and leave a testimony that she hoped would be useful for all those who, like her, find themselves battling the disease. “I want to leave a mark”, she told us, so that her time among us was not just a parenthesis in our lives. As a journalist, she told her illness, her story in that of a universal story. She brought a lot to the sick, their loved ones and the caregivers. With such accuracy of words and emotions.

“Until the last moment, Clémentine did not want to give in to fate. Her example will remain in us, her smile engraved forever.”

Jean-Philippe Baille

Director of franceinfo

We will not forget the journalist she was. Her ability to find the right subjects, to go to extreme lengths to provide the testimony she needed. She was driven by the desire to explain, to tell, to transmit. His career was all mapped out, his future in the profession obvious.

Until the last moment, Clémentine wanted to take advantage of her “golden moments” : every pleasure, every happiness that came within his reach. “The end is knownshe told us, there’s not too much mystery. But there is everything that will lead up to it and I don’t want to waste these moments. None of those times.”
Clementine was a laugh, a smile, a voice. And this voice, because that’s what she wanted, we will continue to hear it.