A 19-year-old high school student, Nadir, suffered a heart attack during a baccalaureate test, before dying in hospital the same evening, in Lille, on Tuesday March 21. His father confided in the press to honor the memory of his son.
It is a terrible drama that took place at the Gaston Berger high school, in Lille, this Tuesday, March 21. In the middle of the baccalaureate test, Nadir, 19, collapsed, victim of a heart attack , he who had suffered from severe heart disease since childhood.
If the doctors had given him only five years to live at birth, the installation of a pacemaker had allowed him to lengthen his life expectancy, until he became a young man working for his future.
Beyond the drama, it is above all the circumstances and the non-reaction of the eight adults supervising the ordeal that questions. The test was canceled, postponed for a week, but his classmates, who tried to act to save him, castigate the passive behavior of the adults, who left the young Nadir alone for several minutes, lying on the ground.
The young high school student unfortunately succumbed to his heart attack the same evening, at the hospital, leaving dozens of high school students in shock, as well as a bereaved family. His father, Tidjani Bekaddour-Benatia, confided in France 3 to honor the memory of his son: “There is not a photo where he does not smile” .
His last conversation with his son occurred the same day, before he left for high school: “He studied all morning, until 2 p.m. Just before leaving, he said to me: ‘dad, the exams are a little hard but I will pass this baccalaureate’. He always wanted to please me,” he says with emotion.
Nadir was a big sports fan, especially football: “He told me that if he didn’t have a heart problem, he would have become the best player,” confides his father.
When he arrived at school after the call from the establishment, Tidjani quickly saw how serious the situation was: “He was very surrounded. I saw the firefighters and the police. the emergency services did everything they could” .
As for what happened in this classroom, the father says he is “surprised” by what he hears: “According to the echoes that I had, he would have asked to leave but they would have refused,” he sighs.
According to AFP, the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, called the student’s mother to offer her condolences. A listening unit has been set up for students and staff at the school.
Nadir’s funeral should take place soon in Algeria and according to his father, a tribute will be paid to him by the French football team during his match this Friday against the Netherlands.
His illness had also led to the creation of an association “Les potes de Nadir”, renamed today “A child, my battle”, which will pay tribute to him this Sunday on the airwaves of Pastel FM, in Roubaix.