Par Valentin Lebosse
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His office exudes passion for sports. Manager of the company An Diag, specializing in the detection of asbestos, in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), Christophe Audouard works under the eyes of his two idols, tennis player Roger Federer and basketball player Michael Jordan. Their black and white photos complete an evocative decor: race car bucket seat and string of medals.
Other charms could enrich its collection in the weeks to come. At 46, the native of Mont-Saint-Aignan getting ready to argue its first World Summer Games for transplant recipients, in Perth, in Australia. From April 15 to 21, 2023, Christophe will be the captain of a French team made up of a hundred people, athletes and accompanying persons.
Suffering from a rare kidney disease
Organized on the model of the Olympic Games, this competition aims in particular to promote organ donation worldwide. The Rouennais himself benefited from a kidney transplant. It was in 2011. After three years of dialysis following an orphan disease (rare disease for which there is no specific treatment).
Like approximately 1,500 new cases each year in France, Christophe is suffering from Berger’s disease. “It’s an autoimmune disease. [résultant d’un dysfonctionnement du système immunitaire, NDLR] which attacks the kidneys, he explains to 76 currently. Like a clogged filter, the kidneys no longer remove impurities from the blood. »
“I came close to disaster”
A “first alert” occurs in 2006. After a bad blood test, medical examinations are linked. No result. “We couldn’t find the cause,” rewinds the person concerned. He who practices basket since the age of 7,ALCL of Grand-Quevilly, feels “an impression of playing with the handbrake applied”.
Feeling that you can’t do it, that your body can’t do it anymore, it’s very frustrating.
Two years later, the Norman took part in a 24 hour mountain bike race. A real ordeal. Christophe must dismount on the climbs. And don’t finish the race. “Given the amount of sport I was doing, it was not normal. He redid the analyses. His disease is finally identified. “My blood pressure was over 20. I came close to disaster. »
While waiting for the transplant, dialyses follow one another in the nephrology department of the Rouen University Hospital. Sessions of four hours, three evenings a week. His drug treatment includes “no less than 30 tablets to be taken per day”. And his physical form is that of “someone 70-75 years old”. Yet he keeps “a very active life”, founded his business. “I didn’t want to mope. »
A “new life” with three kidneys
After the transplant, Christophe discovers a “new life” with three kidneys – “the two natives who are no longer functional and the graft”. A life that is not without constraint : taking anti-rejection drugs for life morning and evening, increased risk of infections, need to avoid shocks, etc.
He waited a year before returning to sport. “I wanted to be sure that the graft took well, even if it was more psychological. And then, my daughter was born, we had work to do around the house… I also had less time. »
“Participating in these worlds is in itself a victory”
The Seinomarin later joined Trans-Shape, an association which “helps to resume a normal life through sport”. This structure opened the doors to national and then world games for transplant recipients.
“Even if everyone has a different story, you meet people who are going through the same thing as you, appreciates Christophe. There is this saving side of not feeling isolated. »
It’s a competition without animosity because we’re all happy to be there. Participating in these worlds is in itself a victory.
It is in this state of mind that no less than 1,500 athletes, from around forty countries, have an appointment in Australia. They will compete for eight days in about twenty events. A jack-of-all-trades athlete, Christophe enrolled in six disciplines : 100 meters, 4×100 meters relay, squash, badminton, basketball 3 against 3 and table tennis in doubles.
Rouen will host the next National Transplant and Dialysis Games
From May 18 to 21, 2023, the 29th National Transplant and Dialysis Games will take place for the first time in Rouen. The opportunity for the City to “affirm its commitment alongside the Trans-Forme association in its action to raise awareness of organ donation”.
About 80 participants are expected. They will compete in fifteen disciplines (athletics, indoor rowing, karting…). The tests are open to all transplant recipients and dialysis patients, whatever their physical level, “subject to satisfactory medical prerequisites”.
“As long as my legs can carry me…”
While waiting for the departure, scheduled for April 12, he trains several times a week, in a club or with friends. “I can’t keep still, it’s sometimes tiring for my loved ones! “, laughs the dashing quadra.
One thing is certain, this follower of « carpe diem » is not about to give up its leitmotif. “It has been twelve years since I enjoy life to the fullest for three years put on hold because of dialysis. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so as long as my legs can carry me, I will continue like this. »
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