Antony Michot died of testicular cancer at the age of 20. His father Pascal, will leave Saint-Cyprien, near Perpignan for a tour of France by bike. Objective: raise awareness of this disease, which mainly affects young people aged 15 to 35, and encourage prevention.
Pascal Michot is inconsolable. On June 9, 2020, Antony, his son, died at the age of 20 from cancer. Six months earlier, after the end of year celebrations, the student had returned to Clermont-Ferrand in good shape to continue his engineering studies.
IHe has no symptoms until the day when the rather athletic young man finds it difficult to climb the stairs. At first pneumothorax was suspected, but medical examinations revealed testicular cancer. At the time of diagnosis, the disease had spread to the lungs. After several operations, on June 28, the doctors announced to the young man that he was in remission. He will die 11 days later from a devastating brain cancer.
Mad with grief, Pascal Michot, Antony’s father gets on his bike and travels a thousand kilometers from Roissy (where he lived) to Saint-Cyprien in the Pyrénées-Orientales, where the family has settled. Throughout his journey, he tells his story and realizes that the illness that took his son is unknown. He then decided to inform about this cancer which mainly affects young people between the ages of 15 and 35.
Testicular cancer is a disease unknown to the general public. Unknown and taboo.
Pascal MichotInterviewed by France 3 Occitanie
“I realized during my journey that many people had unfortunately experienced the same thing as my son. Those who got away with it often discovered their cancer by chance”, adds Pascal Michot.
The painless disease that begins with lymph nodes and a lump in the testicles is detected by simple palpation. This type of cancer can be cured in 97% of cases if diagnosed very early.
On May 7, Pascal Michot will set off again on the roads of France for a large bicycle block to raise public awareness of this disease. He communicates on all social networks, Instagram, FacebookLinkedin.
He shot a video “Me, my bike and cancer”, through which he explains his fight. “The best way to fight this cancer is to talk about it. If my son’s cancer had been detected earlier, it would not have metastasized to the lungs and then to the brain”, says Pascal Virot.
He launched an online kitty to fund his project. The surplus will be donated to the association “cancer let’s dare!” and other facilities for hospitalized children.
This Sunday, May 7, he leaves Saint-Cyprien for a tour of France without assistance.
He will pass through La Rochelle and Clermont-Ferrand, to meet his son’s friends and to greet the caregivers of the city hospital who took care of him at the start of his illness. “A very human care despite the confinement. I want to pay tribute to them”, continues Pascal Michot.
He planned to ride 39 days and cover 5,100 kilometres. He will do the first forty with his wife and the Saint-Cyprien cycling club, and then continue alone. “If my story is written, I organize this trip for the children”, concludes Pascal Virot. He trained tirelessly. He can’t wait to get going.
