“Spring Cup? No. Capillary preparation for the fight that I engage with all my people to kick an old crab (so it was not me…) out of my lungs! “It is with these few words, photo in support, that Francis Chouat, 74, announced this weekend on social networks to suffer from lung cancer. Close to Manuel Valls, he had succeeded him as mayor (PS) of Évry and president of the agglomeration from 2012 to 2018, but also as a deputy (related to LREM) of the first constituency (Évry and Corbeil-Essonnes) from 2018 to 2022.
The one who is still municipal councilor of Évry-Courcouronnes and community councilor of the Grand Paris Sud agglomeration learned of his illness a few weeks ago. “I started treatment last week. I am in the hands of the Institut Curie and the Institut Montsouris (Paris), which are extraordinary establishments. The medical, family and friendly environment helps a lot to keep morale high. It happened to others, ”says Francis Chouat on the phone, recalling the long fight of Olivier Léonhardt, mayor of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and senator, swept away by cancer in 2022 at the age of 58. years after battling the disease for nine years.
“I prefer to inform than let rumors develop”
Like him, Francis Chouat has decided to publicly announce his illness. “Even if as an elected official I am no longer in the foreground, I remain a public figure. I prefer to inform and express my state of mind rather than letting rumors develop. I received a lot of messages, not only on social networks. It’s very nice, it encourages me in my fight. But I won’t make a book of it like Florent Pagny,” he jokes.
For the time being, there is no question for the elected official to abandon his mandates: “It maintains reality. We don’t have to mope around and stare at our navel. I started my first sessions of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. I don’t know if I will be able to be present at the municipal council this Thursday because the side effects are trying. But that doesn’t prevent me from standing up, reading, getting information, discussing with elected officials…”