the still raw story of Damien, the man who disarmed Chérif Chekatt

Before the special criminal court of Paris, the young man returned to the moment when he chose to “fight to survive”, and to the serious after-effects of his face-to-face with the terrorist.

“I am the victim who tried to arrest Chérif [Chekatt] during his deadly race.” Wednesday March 13, on the fourth day of testimonies from the civil parties in the trial of the Strasbourg attack, the room of the special assize court of Paris is hanging on Damien’s lips. There is not the slightest trace of boasting in his voice. What he delivers on the stand is not the story of a hero, but of a survivor.

Before December 11, 2018, he was neither. Only a young man of 28 who meets two friends, Tom and Jérémy, to talk about the future of their music group. They smoke a cigarette in front of the café-bar Les Savoine d’Hélène and ideas flow: why not become more professional? Damien is euphoric. He has just quit his job, which allowed him to raise the money needed to pay for the bus tickets that will allow his partner and her family to finally meet. Daydreams interrupted by a movement of crowds that emerge from the opposite direction to that from which they arrived: people running towards them, their faces frightened. Damien says he follows a little girl out of breath who wants to stop, and her father who tells her to continue, over and over again. He doesn’t understand, doesn’t have time to understand.

A cry “that is not forgotten”

It is 7:53 p.m. and Chérif Chekatt has just entered his field of vision. The terrorist shoots Jérémy, his friend, who falls to the ground. The bullet just hit the back of his head. At the same time, Damien is thrown to the ground. “I am scared, paralyzed, I remain frozen”, he remembers. A state of astonishment that lasts only a few seconds: very quickly, a scream, which still resonates today in Damien’s nightmares. Genre “who is not forgotten”. He will learn it later, but it is Jérémy who lets out this scream. A tipping point then occurs: “I understand that I have to stand up and fight to survive”.

Damien stands up and begins a melee with the attacker, managing to steal his revolver. But Chérif Chekatt has two weapons: with his knife, he attacks Damien, striking him around ten times in the back. The last one hits his spinal cord, and the young man collapses to the ground. Soldiers from Operation Sentinel intervene, as does his friend Tom. Amidst the chaos, the terrorist manages to escape.

Like his friend Jérémy, Damien survives. Taken in by emergency services and treated at the new civil hospital in Strasbourg, he has the impression of being “like burning coals”, “completely outside of time and space”. Little by little, surrounded by his partner and his family, he regains hope. On December 31, he left his room for a few hours to go with his loved ones to a pizzeria, and forget for a moment about the hospital’s frozen meals. But this release is another cold shower. He realizes that everything has become an ordeal: the cobblestones of the road which make his spine vibrate, the way others look at his lost ten kilos and his sick face, the entrance to the restaurant which is not adapted to his wheelchair. … “It was an atrocity. I threw up the same evening, from this pizza that I had dreamed of so much”he sighs at the bar, five years later.

A lasting handicap, but an intact faith in humanity

In a rehabilitation center, Damien recovers. But even today, he still suffers from Brown-Séquard syndrome, which prevents him from walking without limping. Part of his leg is affected by a sensory deficiency: “When I’m pinched, when I’m caressed in this place, I don’t feel it”. On the stand, he explains that the meetings during his convalescence helped him put his fate into perspective. But he regrets having told the experts: “I’m fine, I’ve moved on”. “That’s not true.”he recognizes today.

The young man may have not given up on music, but he had to reinvent his way of practicing his profession: the presence of too many people became “intolerable”. When he nevertheless happens to go out with friends, the memory of the attack continues to weigh on his mind: “Every time I try to return to normal life, I am now obliged to send a message to reassure my partner, to tell her that everything is fine”he says, his voice hoarse with emotion.

His lawyer notes that he “continues to call his executioner by his first name”. And underlines his client’s faith in humanity despite the violence he faced. “I think there may be causes that go beyond each individualDamien calmly replies. There has to be a reason other than madness. He is simply a human being.”. As he leaves the stand, he comes face to face with his wife, who is preparing to testify in turn. They hug each other before the eyes of the president of the court. For a few seconds, the protocol is erased. After the story of hell, a glow of humanity lights up the room.