A Tale of Solidarity: Rescue Efforts during Storm Ciaran to Help a Woman on Oxygen

Thursday, November 2, 2 a.m., in a hamlet of La Vraie-Croix (56). Odile Blino, 72, who wears an oxygen mask every night, is woken up by the “beep-beep” of her device. Outside, the gusts and rain from Storm Ciaran are increasing in strength.

“The machine stopped suddenly. I grabbed the switch behind me to turn it on, and then I saw that there was no more power.” Stoic, the old lady adds: “What did I do? Well I waited. I didn’t think of anything.” A calm which undoubtedly spared him respiratory distress. Around 5:45 a.m., Odile finally decides to get up, driven by a pressing desire. “I had to hit the wire of my oxygen machine, because there was no light, and I fell. » Still not alarmed, the septuagenarian waits in the dark, waiting for the caregiver who comes every day to help her wash in the morning and dress her.

Living alone despite the storm

But a completely different chain of solidarity was set in motion without his knowledge. At 6:30 a.m., an agent from the Regional Health Agency (ARS), who had his eye on the list of patients isolated under respiratory assistance, contacted the first deputy of La Vraie-Croix, Morgane Pondard, elected on call That day. “He couldn’t get hold of Ms. Blino’s son so that he could go to her house,” she says.

“I went out to go there but had to turn back because the two roads leading to his house were blocked by fallen trees. And then, as luck would have it, I came across the firefighters, 50 meters from my house. » After clearing the trees, the firefighters finally reached Odile’s house.

” I was not excpecting that at all. They got me up and put me back down, and then they had to leave, telling me that my hamlet would be a priority for the restoration of electricity, for my oxygen. » Which was done, at the end of the morning. That same Thursday morning, the septuagenarian welcomed a new surprise visitor, the mayor, Pascal Guiblin. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a mayor come for me,” she says.

Since then, while waiting for the old lady’s landline to return, the mayor comes by every day to check on her. “It is also our role as elected officials. And Odile’s story is a great collaboration with the ARS,” he emphasizes. This storm did not convince the septuagenarian to leave her house: “I am the one who wants to live alone, I will not go to an institution”.