Society. Farmer sells plot to save little girl with leukemia

At only 11 years old, Cloé suffers from leukemia, diagnosed in 2019. Since then, the little girl, who lives in Saint-Nolff (Morbihan), must avoid any contact with dust and chemical agents … in particular pesticides. To protect her as well as possible, her parents achieved a small miracle this year: the farmer from the neighboring field agreed to sell his plot to buy another one further away.

In October 2019, when we discovered lymphoblastic leukemia in Cloé, then “a little out of breath”, things happened very quickly. Two days later, she was admitted to the Rennes University Hospital. Then begin six weeks of intensive treatment with cortisone and chemotherapy, which deprive the child of his immune defenses.

Vacuuming several times a day and vacuum-packed dishes

At the end of 2019, Cloé was authorized to take care of herself alternately at the hospital and at home. This treatment will last fifteen months, with drastic discipline for the entire household.

“When she returned, everything had to be cleaned because it should not be in contact with dust or chemicals. You could no longer vacuum the same room. [quand Cloé s’y trouvait, N.D.L.R.] but it was necessary to pass it several times a day “, tells his mother, Isabelle Marchand. As for the food,” it was a maximum of vacuum-packed dishes, and the vegetables dipped in vinegar before being consumed “, enumerates its father, Stéphane Dubreil.

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Negotiations with the farmer

In this hyper-vigilant daily life, the family wonders about the possible impact of spraying pesticides in a wheat field located a stone’s throw from their house. “The farmer came to the level of the embankment. He did not want to lose 20 cm of crop. We were not allowed to vacuum next to our daughter, but he could take out his booms and spray products that sting the eyes? “, indignant the mother of the family.

“Cloé has leukemia with a high rate of recurrence, the related disease of which is recognized as an occupational agricultural disease linked to the use of pesticides,” explains Stéphane Dubreil.

Neither one nor two, the couple began a negotiation with the farmer and the town hall, with the help of the Collective of support for the victims of pesticides. The first deputy Daniel Bertho, himself an organic farmer, is overseeing the discussions. From the first meeting, in March 2020, the neighbor farmer agrees not to spread pesticides on a 70 m wide strip adjoining the Cloé subdivision. In return, the town hall undertakes to compensate financial losses.

An exchange of plots

But the following summer, it is panic. The farmer has started growing potatoes, one of the vegetables that requires the most phytosanitary treatments.

Thanks to a petition, new negotiations start with the operator. Finally, the two parties agreed on the solution of a “plot exchange”, formalized on May 26. Result: supported by the town hall, the farmer was able to resell his 8.7 hectares and buy land against fifteen candidates, while he was “not a priority”. It is an organic farmer who should recover his old plot.

Following the negotiations, the former neighbor did not wish to speak, claiming to have had “so much pressure” that he “had to find a solution”.

“Health must come before everything else”

In any case, it’s a small miracle for Cloé and her family. “Chambers of agriculture often organize changes in land allocation, for example to bring farmers closer to their farms, but not for health issues”, according to Daniel Bertho, well aware that this solution “is not transposable everywhere “.

But for the support collective and the environmental association “Saint-Nolff 21”, there is still a lot to do. “There is an emotional aspect because it is a little girl, but it is the same for a person of 70 years. Health must come before everything else”, pleads Michel Besnard, a member of the collective. He advocates the outright ban of these products.

Indeed, the analysis of dust from the house of the Cloé family, during the non-treatment period, nevertheless revealed the presence of ten pesticides.

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