2023-04-24 12:20:00
Matthieu Lartot, “Mister Rugby” of France Télévisions, has to face a relapse of cancer in his right knee. He had announced “to move away from the antenna” to look after himself.
By Lise Lacombe for Le Point
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« C’is a matter of survival,” said journalist Matthieu Lartot, interviewed by Olympic noon. The commentator of the XV of France matches delivered on his fight against the disease with which he has lived since adolescence, as told Le Figaro.
Affected by a tumor in the knee joints called synovialosarcoma, since the age of 16, Matthieu Lartot will have his right leg amputated to facilitate his recovery. After announcing that he “was moving away from the antenna” to take the time to treat himself, he explains: “I am starting chemo on Monday. After that, I’ll have three weeks to rebuild my immunity that the first medications destroyed. “Then will follow” the surgical act “before” the equipment and the rehabilitation “.
Many thanks for your countless messages! They give me a lot of strength as I embark on this second battle ����
— Matthieu Lartot (@lartot) April 19, 2023
But the presenter Stade 2, who thanked on Twitter for the support received in recent days, seems to approach the amputation with serenity: “Honestly, I take it as a release. This work, moreover, I have been doing it in my head for years. »
Accustomed to living with a prosthesis for 25 years, he explains: “My leg was too damaged to have another one. So I knew amputation would happen sooner or later. »
“The fight for life”
What matters to the 43-year-old journalist is not “to keep or not [s]a leg”, but above all “the fight for life”. Even if he apprehends the aftermath: “Between preparing for it psychologically and waking up after the operation with one limb missing, there is a gap that I don’t control…” he confesses.
READ ALSOMatthieu Lartot: “France has once again become a great rugby nation”
The rugby enthusiast has only one goal in mind: to be able to attend the opening match of the World Cup as a supporter of the XV of France in September. Matthieu Lartot therefore gives himself all summer to acclimatize to his “new mobility” and hopes that the surgery will put an end to this disease.
The presenter also returned to the Six Nations tournament, which he commented on alongside Dimitri Yachvili. He admits to having experienced a “quite difficult” competition. He says: “I couldn’t walk without taking anti-inflammatories, I slept very badly at night because of the pain…” Not yet aware of his cancer relapse, he “grit his teeth” but noticed however that ” something is wrong” and confesses to having “a bit of a fool” for the love of sport: “I wanted to finish the tournament, that’s all. »
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