Alain Bernard is more committed than ever to his mother's side. Eliane Bernard, the mother of the Olympic swimming champion, is one of the hundred patients to have been operated on between 2015 and 2017 at the Gap hospital by Doctor Gilles Norotte, surgeon suspected of having them used as guinea pigs without their consent. Two days after launching an appeal to the victims to join his collective to carry out legal proceedings, through an interview with the Parisian, the French swimmer was invited to the plateau of C to You broadcast on France 5 Wednesday February 24, 2021. On this occasion, the 37-year-old athlete gave a beautiful tribute to the one who gave him life, and who suffers from pain since his back surgery.
On the set of the talk show presented by Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine, Alain Bernard confided in his very strong relationship with his mother. "It's moving because at 15 years old, she took me at six in the morning, we took the car for my first workout of the day. I would come home at 8 p.m., 9 p.m. We would do it again the next day. She took me on all my competitions. It was she who threw me into the water", he said with a smile on his face. And to continue: "She devoted a lot of her time to me. She trusted me with my career (…) And I was lucky to be rewarded for my efforts. " As a reminder, Alain Bernard won the 100m freestyle final at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
"It is thanks to her that I was able to make a living from my passion"
In the columns of Parisian, already, Alain Bernard gave himself up with emotion on this complicity which he maintains with his mother. "My mom, I owe her everything. She was the one who accompanied me when I was little to learn to swim, to compete in competitions. It is thanks to her that I was able to practice my sport and live from my passion ", he admitted. An unwavering love, which drives him to fight for her, no matter what. "So it's unbearable for me to see her suffer like this. And especially not to have any solutions to relieve it apart from a new operation ", he continued. And add: "At his age, with the risks of Covid in hospitals and clinics, it's very anxiety-provoking. I'm really worried about the future." A moving testimony.
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