when paragliding gives wings to sick children

In the sky of Signes (Var) flies a bird named Mathis, 6 years old, all smiles and free as the air. Before soaring in the azure blue, we had to climb to the top. Sarah and Cédric Parthiot, her parents, have a particular means of transport: a schooner, an all-terrain hiking chair. After an hour of effort, it’s time to prepare.

Take flight thanks to an association

Mathis will have a co-driver, Olivier Berzal. This paraglider created the Plus 2 Sport association, and takes sick or disabled children to the sky. “It’s a suspended moment, in the air. If we can manage to make them forget this disease by the fact that we are free from all terrestrial and aerial constraints”, he confides. When the wind picks up, the magic blows in the sail and Mathis flies away, lighter. Downstairs, his mother, Sarah, thinks to herself “moved”. “For a mom, it’s just great”she says.