Yannick left early this Wednesday morning with his backpack and Nordic walking poles. The man is determined not to be dictated by the disease that weakens him, prostate cancer. He even says he tamed her.
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“To go to Mont Saint-Michel on foot, specifies Yannick, it is 170 km by road but by the Plantagenêt way, it is 270 km. “
The Plantagenêt route is a bit like the route of pilgrims who go, not to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but to Mont Saint-Michel, in Normandy.
“It’s 100 kilometers, more, twists and turns, he anticipates. You have to follow the rivers, you have to deviate as much as possible from the main roads, otherwise it is of no interest. “
The stages will be on average 25 kilometers, never more than 30.
“Walking is an excellent compromise”
“It is quite acceptable, modestly estimates the walker, since it’s four to five hours of walking that can be done in one go or in two parts. I chose to get up at 5 a.m., fold everything up and be ready to go at 6 a.m. to walk until noon and then the afternoon nap, so that I will be fresh and available to leave the next morning. . “
Because Yannick Sourisseau, 68, walks with a very heavy bag, weighed down by cancer that he was diagnosed with four years ago. A tumor under the prostate that affects his urinary system and bone system. It is inoperable he was told. Before the stages of his pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel, Yannick therefore followed those of oncology. Chemotherapy and hormone therapy.
But there is no question of letting oneself be defeated without a fight. And Yannick knows it, sporting activity will allow him to extend his life expectancy.
“The doctors advised me from the start to play sports, remembers Yannick, and I found it to be beneficial. Walking is an excellent compromise, it makes all the muscles in the body work. “
Yannick Sourisseau, through this 270-kilometer hike, wants to raise awareness of male cancers that are little talked about.
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© France Télévisions Céline Dupeyrat.
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Beyond this personal fight against cancer, Yannick Sourisseau, who is also president of the association he created in Angers, Cancer dare which supports men affected by a specifically male cancer (prostate, testicle …), also wished to carry a message.
“Tell everyone who is in the same situation as me, he testifies, to continue to be physically active. It’s what I do, I move, I don’t want to stay at home and wait for the disease to become more crippling and no longer allow me to do this activity. “
“The more we talk about it, the more we feel good in our head”
Male cancers that affect sexual functions are a bit taboo. We don’t talk much about it.
“I want to talk about it, I talk about it through a Cancer Osons association, and the more we talk about it, the more we feel good in our head.” he asserts.
This Thursday morning at 6:30 am, Yannick put on his thick socks, laced up his walking shoes and lifted his bag to carry it to his shoulders. From Saint-Melaine-sur-Aubance a few kilometers from Angers, to Mont Saint-Michel, there will be ten days.
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“Do I have the mind to do it “
And then, he imagines, the fight will continue with the Camino de Santiago, perhaps at the beginning of 2022. A month and a half of walking, 1,500 kilometers. The route to Mont Saint Michel will be a first test.
“To see if I can stand alone, facing myself, he said. Do I have the physical capacity despite my illness to do this? Do I have the mind to do it? It’s going to be a good experience. “
Yannick knows very well that what awaits him may be dark. He imagines a wheelchair or an evolution towards the terminal phase. But he also believes in the strength of will.
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