François, 70, knew he lived in an area with little coverage. His house is in Hannapes, a small French village, in which the mobile network and the Internet are almost non-existent. If he had got used to it over the years, without really having the chance, this situation was nevertheless at the origin of a tragedy on July 13th. That day, the septuagenarian’s wife told him that she was not feeling well.
“I immediately tried to call the fire brigade but I had no network bar”, explains François to l’Union. Tears in his eyes, he remembers this terrible evening. “I went outside under the veranda to try to capture but nothing. I contacted my niece on the networks, who arrived a few minutes later. We tried once more to contact the fire department but we mightn’t. We then laid her on the ground and performed heart massage. I have a firefighter friend who doesn’t live very far away, I tried to reach him but it didn’t go through either. It was finally 30 minutes later that we managed to grab a bar and join the rescue. »
Despite the proximity of the barracks, located just a few kilometers from François’ home, the firefighters arrived too late to save his wife. “They tried to resuscitate her but it was already too late. We did everything we might. »
“Unacceptable to see this in our time”
After 35 years of love, François therefore had to say goodbye to the love of his life, who died of a heart attack. “If this bloody network passed through the village, we wouldn’t be here. If it hadn’t taken more than 30 minutes to reach the emergency services, my partner would still be alive. It is unacceptable to see this in our time. The worst part is that it’s not recent. The village mayor has been fighting for years to bring the network to Hannapes”
Because this bad cover had already earned the septuagenarian a big scare. “It’s not the first time I’ve had a problem. One day my house started to catch fire and I mightn’t reach the emergency services. It was finally the mayor who had somehow managed to join them. »
Deprived of a network in the town, the mayor Christian Brunet, has been fighting for years to change the situation: “It’s unfortunate. There has to be a drama for things to move. Following this tragedy, the operator Free moved at the beginning of September and came forward to install the long-awaited antenna. Work should start soon. I just hope it will happen soon before something bad happens once more. »
Another elderly person in the village was even refused the installation of a remote alarm, for lack of sufficient network. “If I testify it is to move things forward. Even if I don’t hope for much now, I would like this to serve as a lesson and that no drama occurs for lack of network, ”concludes François Carion.