From Arcachon Basin to Sète: 600 km by bike to raise awareness of stroke

Hilippe Maynard, President of the AVC Tous Concerns (ATC), founded in 2016 after a stroke. “I had a very difficult rehabilitation. I had to relearn how to walk and write,” explains the former mayor of Barsac. This is a conversation with neurologist François Rouanet from the University Hospital…

Hilippe Maynard, President of the AVC Tous Concerns (ATC), founded in 2016 after a stroke. “I had a very difficult rehabilitation. I had to relearn how to walk and write,” explains the former mayor of Barsak. It was together with the neurologist François Rounet of the University Hospital of Bordeaux that he founded this association to compensate for the “lack of attention to stroke prevention.” » ATC is an association of the Gironde recognized as being of general interest.

She goes to markets and organizes preventive campaigns in companies. It also provides direct assistance to affected people, especially in “stroke cafes”. “There are 85 in total, including four in the Arcachon basin,” points out Philippe Maynard, who adds: “To prevent life’s accidents, it is important to move. »

Benefits of cycling

Thus, the association organizes “transversals” on bicycles. There was one connecting Bordeaux with Mont Saint Michel, and another connecting Bordeaux with Strasbourg, that is 1300 km. ATC emphasizes the health benefits of cycling. It helps you stay in shape, improves the functioning of your cardiovascular, skeletal and immune systems, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases…

Test symbol

Leaving Arcachon is not accidental. The association has a branch in Bassein. His representative, Philippe Duprat, knew that Philippe Meynard wanted to organize a transversal route from Langon to Sète, so “I asked him to leave Arcachon. It was symbolic for me,” he explains.

Indeed, fourteen years ago, while on vacation in Morocco, he suffered a stroke. He says: “This happened to me at 52, when I was athletic and in great shape. We believe that we are invincible. They were in no hurry to intervene. Today I have hemiplegia. I can’t use my whole left side.” He was repatriated “in poor condition,” he said. He spent six months in the neurovascular department of the University Hospital of Bordeaux, and then spent a further six months in the Jean-Amo hospital in La Teste. For him, this is the “place of his rebirth,” hence the symbolic meaning of the place of departure.

Beach tour

In 2016, when the association was created by Philippe Meynard, he immediately joined it and has since hosted AVC cafes (Pôle de Santé, Salle des Miquelots in La Teste, Maison des Aidants d’Arcachon), which are equally “ in places exchange, exchange and support. » Marianne Lavignon, director of the hospital’s management department, also emphasizes the pride of the institution, which has been collaborating with the association for about ten years within the User Center. Present in the markets around Basen and Val de l’Air, the association also organizes beach tours in the summer. On the occasion of his departure, Mayor Patrick Davet said he was impressed by the “lesson of courage” taught by Philippe Duprat.

Thus, five of them left the hospital on bicycles, accompanied by four attendants in charge of assistance. They will arrive 600 km later on Monday 13 May in the evening of Sète.