Emmanuelle Thobor, 18, arrived last year at Fleury Loiret Handball, an elite club in France, engaged in the Women’s League. Courted by the biggest teams in France, member of the Fleuryssois training center and of the U19 tricolor selection, considered as one of the best players of her generation at her pivotal position, the young woman, a native of Melun (Seine-et-Marne), was infected with Covid-19 last October.
Paralyzed in the legs and then in the arms, she spent her winter between the intensive care unit of the CHR in Orléans and a rehabilitation center in Paris. Today she can walk again. Considered cured by doctors, she looks back on her experience over the past few months. Quotes and selected pieces from his testimony below.
1. The state of mind before illness
“The club constantly encouraged us to respect barrier gestures and I knew the Covid-19 was there. But, when you’re young, you tell yourself that you won’t have serious repercussions. “
“I was paying attention, but I wasn’t necessarily afraid. I told myself that if I got sick, I would just have a little cold “.
2. The first symptoms
“There was fatigue. I had a cold. And then, I felt burns on my legs. At first, I didn’t worry more than that. I thought it would pass “.
“The pains woke me up at night. I was prescribed physiotherapy sessions. When I arrived at the physiotherapist, he gave me tests. I didn’t feel anything anymore at the level of my legs “.
“I was taken aback, immediately transported by firefighters in the emergency room of the hospital in Orléans. There, an antigen test was negative. I underwent lots of exams and, while awaiting the results, I was kept under observation at night. “
“The next morning, I saw commotion outside my door. My PCR test was positive. I was placed in quarantine and during that time I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. It is a neurological disease that affects the nerves. The doctors told me that this disease had broken out because of the Covid “.
“I was transferred to intensive care. I had a very bad experience.”
3. The disease
“When I got to the hospital, I could still walk. Three days later, I couldn’t. Impossible to stand up.”
“I am then in a bed. I’m aware and it’s not right at all. Morally, it was very hard. I stayed there like that for a month and a half, two months. “
“At first I was scared. I didn’t have a deadline. I didn’t know how long it was going to last. It was traumatic. In addition, I was not entitled to visits, because I still had the Covid “.
“Without the hand, what was I going to be able to do with my life? I asked myself lots of questions “.
Emmanuelle Thobor (front, center) was in the Fleuryssois professional group (Women’s League) winner against Toulon last September, 28-22. Photo Pascal Proust
4. The treatment
“I received a first treatment. It was injections, infusions. Six hours of treatment per day … They did that to me in the evening, around 11 p.m. As a result, I didn’t sleep before 5 am “.
“The doctors found that the treatment was not working. And that my condition had deteriorated. The disease had won the arms, I could no longer move them, to lift them “.
“I was transferred to intensive care. I lived it very badly. I felt dehumanized, all alone, in a bed, not at all dressed. People were entering the room. You had to pee and poop in a bucket. “
“I received a second treatment, which I did not take well but which ended up curing me. I fell in apples. I was throwing up. I had a catheter in my neck. I was cleaned of blood “.
“I felt it came back to palpation. Feeling my legs again, I think it was one of the happiest days of my life “.
–
5. Healing
“I left the hospital in mid-December. I went to a rehabilitation center in Paris, near my family. I was walking with difficulty. But I was walking “.
“At first it’s a few steps, in my room, then in the hallway, with a walker. It was weird, but I got used to it. Being able to stand up, I was happy … “
“Holding a pen, writing my first name, Emmanuelle, carrying a bottle of water or even an empty plate, I couldn’t do it. I had zero strength“.
“The objective was to relearn how to lead a normal life, in autonomy”.
–
“Today, I have no more treatment, but there is still fatigue “.
“I came out of my convalescence in February. I came back to Orleans, with a lot of goals in mind concerning handball. I wanted to train, to play matches!”
–
“This ordeal made me grow mentally. I have another look on everything related to illnesses and what can happen to me. My mother is very careful about the Covid. I only retain the positive“.
“Doctors have always been honest with me.”
6. The sequel
“The goal is to get back to my best level as quickly as possible“.
–
“I lost 15 kg. I have come a long way …”.
“The disease opened my eyes. Handball is my vocation. That’s really what I want to do later. The hand is what dictates my life “.
Interview by Laurent Coursimault
– .
