Tragedy of Lac-Mégantic, 10 years later: “I had to erase my reality”

The daughter of a victim of the train derailment in Lac-Mégantic in 2013 fled the city and plunged into drug hell after the tragedy, in an attempt at “self-destructive survival”, before regaining a taste for life years later.

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“I knew it wasn’t going to be my whole life. But I told myself that I needed it to avoid hanging myself. I had to erase my reality, ”says Mégane Turcotte, met in Saint-Georges, in Beauce, almost 10 years after the tragedy.

On July 6, 2013, his mother, Diane Bizier, had gone to the Musi-Café in Lac-Mégantic as she did almost every weekend to meet friends. She was with her husband, who left the evening a little earlier.

For her part, Mégane Turcotte had fallen asleep around midnight after babysitting the children of the owner of the Musi-Café at the time. But she woke up hours later to hearing talking outside and seeing it was ‘bright as day’.

“When I came out, I saw my brother talking with his girlfriend. I asked them what was going on. Their gaze said everything…”, recounts emotionally Mr.^me Turcotte.

It was then that she learned that downtown was on fire and their mother was nowhere to be found.

Descent into hell

“Deep down I felt that I would never see my mother again, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself. Even today, it’s as if I had never really realized what had happened to us, ”says the young woman, now 27 years old.

There followed a veritable descent into hell for Mégane Turcotte, who began to consume cannabis and cocaine in ever greater quantities, to “cut her emotions”.

It was also during this period that she fled the city of her childhood, “disfigured and sad”, that she started dating a man who quickly became toxic and violent, and that she flirted with the idea of ​​taking your own life.

“I was not ready to face the loss of my mother, it hurt so much inside, constantly. And I was afraid that another event would occur and take away my loved ones one by one”, explains Mr.^me Turcotte.

An “urgency” to live

A few years later, one of his work colleagues ended his life following a heartbreak. It was then that she realized that she had her life ahead of her and that she wanted to be happy.

“It gave me a slap in the face, I felt an urgency to live. I began to see everything the future could offer me, ”says the young woman, who sought help to regain control of her life and move away from her toxic association.

M^me Turcotte has decided to look ahead and is currently doing a DEP in computer support. She even plans to take video game programming courses at university later.

The pain attached to the town of Lac-Mégantic, however, remains too great, even 10 years later, for the young woman to consider settling there one day.

“But it is important that we remember this tragedy. For my mother and all the other victims who hadn’t asked for anything. For my part, I know that she keeps an eye on me, ”she concludes.

Mégane Turcotte will publish a book entitled “Mortal Love” next October which will focus on her vision of the years following the train derailment in Lac-Mégantic and the impact the tragedy had on her life.