This Friday, June 2, Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache announced the death of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo. Quadriplegic after a paragliding accident, his story had inspired their film Intouchables.
The big family ofUntouchables is in mourning. This Friday, June 2, the directors of this emblematic film announced the death of the man who inspired it, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo. “We have just learned with immense sadness the disappearance of our friend Philippe Pozzo di Borgo”, wrote Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache on social networks. In their post, they paid tribute to the 72-year-old: “By accepting that we adapt his story in Intouchables, he changed our lives and the lives of many vulnerable and fragile people”. Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache will keep the image “of a courageous, dignified, humble and combative man” of which “humor and intelligence” marked them.
“Having known him for all these years was a rare privilege.they concluded. We will try to continue all of his fights.” On Instagram, Omar Sy also hailed the memory of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo. “Forever in our hearts”wrote the actor, who plays the main role in Untouchablesalongside François Cluzet. Born in 1951 and from the Corsican nobility, he was the manager of the Champagne Pommery wine house. In 1993, he was seriously injured in a paragliding accident that left him quadriplegic. “I had exceeded the limits of my condition. Like many in our society. We forget our inherent fragility, our vulnerability and we do anything. Finally, I speak for myself“, he confided in 2019 to Ouest-France.
Philippe Pozzo di Borgo: his story inspired Intouchables
“I think my paragliding accident is partly related to the considerable stress of this professional activity”, he analyzed with our colleagues. During the first years of his disability, Philippe Pozzo di Borgo forged a special relationship with his carer, Abdel Yasmin Sellou, whom he described in a book, The Second Wind. It was this book that inspired the film Untouchables. After the broadcast of this blockbuster which crossed borders, the Corsican businessman received “hundreds of emails. 80% were thank you”as he told Ouest-France. “But there were also people on the edge of life. I had to call in a psychoanalyst for some emails, but I answered everyone,” he said.