EFinally good news for Henri Sannier who has been going through a painful ordeal for more than a year, the victim of both a serious cycling accident and a neuropathic disease. The ex-star journalist of France 3, presenter in particular of all sportsconfined to a wheelchair for months, was finally able to walk again as he confided to the Abbeville newspaper. “It had been many nights where I had dreamed that I was walking from my portal to the house. Last June, during the night, I got up to get some medicine. And I walked! In fact, I think I realized that I could walk again […] I was the happiest, as if I had won the Tour de France! »
Henri Sannier has come a long way. In December 2020, he was hit head-on by a car in the Bay of Somme, while he was mountain biking with his wife. He escaped with bruises, a protruding ear, pain everywhere, before his fingers and legs were gradually paralyzed, preventing him from writing or walking. Evils which would be explained by a virus, contracted following his accident. For this great sportsman, the blow is hard: he loses ten kilos, a large part of his muscle mass and is forced to move around in a wheelchair.
Blood filtered 17 times
“I first went to the University Hospital of Amiens where I was treated for Guillain-Barré syndrome, continues the former presenter of the 19/20. But the doctors, who thought it was not this syndrome, directed me to the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. There, I received another treatment: plasmapheresis. For four hours, they filter my blood to renew my plasma… My blood has been filtered in this way 17 times. »
In any case, there is no question of flinching: Henri Sannier, 74, is still mayor of his commune of Eaucourt-sur-Somme and has continued in recent months to preside over weddings, even in a wheelchair. He is continuing his rehabilitation in Abbeville and practices the exercise bike to build up his leg muscles. “I always stayed strong in my head. I have always been surrounded by my wife, Sylviane, my children and my loved ones. Not to mention the letters from former viewers who helped him hold on in difficult times.
READ ALSOFrance 3 will end its national newspapers in September 2023
If he manages to walk for a month, the use of his hands continues to remain problematic: “But I do not lose hope and I know that I will get there. My goal is to be able to get back on the bike and ride again. Like a challenge to illness, the former Tour de France commentator hopes to be on the starting line of the Ronde Picarde next year, a cycling race that passes through the Bay of Somme and its village of Eaucourt. The appointment is made.