"He sold the little positive he found" : Matthieu Lartot’s father testifies and recounts the announcement of his son’s cancer

He is one of France Télévisions’ best-known rugby commentators. At the moment, viewers see him regularly as part of the World Cup of the discipline which also takes place in France. An event that Matthieu Lartot did not want to miss in his career, even if his right leg was amputated last June. A consequence of the illness from which he has suffered for more than 26 years but which recurred a few months ago. Despite this hard blow, the sports journalist beat all the predictions estimated by doctors regarding his recovery since, as of September 10, he was back on the air. It was in fact on the occasion of the World Cup that the journalist made his return, although he had only left the air last April. It is to evoke this rapid adaptation to a new life that the person who now wears a prosthesis is the subject of the portrait of Release this September 28.

A father admiring his son’s strength

Even if he makes no secret of the ordeal he went through and does not hesitate to grant interviews where he talks about it openly, in his daily life as a commentator, Matthieu Lartot is rather modest on this subject and does not necessarily extend into confidences. He prefers when the initiative comes from him: evidenced by the revelation of his condition, about which he made no secret for long by revealing it on his Facebook account: “I preferred to anticipate rather than take the risk of saying anything“, he explained to the daily this Thursday. In the face of illness, Matthieu Lartot has, it seems, always been valiant. On the occasion of the creation of his portrait, Pierre Lartot, the father of the latter testified, admiring his child, and returned to the moment of the young man’s adolescence when he learned of his illness.

Matthieu Lartot resilient in the face of illness

“When the doctors announced, it was he who consoled his mother. He lived this experience as if he were indestructible.” explains the dad. The young man was, however, very sporty and had to put aside all his passions, notably football, basketball and of course… rugby. This is probably what made him turn to sports journalism. A bit in the same way, when he learned of the recurrence of his knee cancer at the beginning of the year, Release says that the journalist decided to speak at the table, supported by his wife. Pierre Lartot always quotes his son: “We wanted announce a change in life, I’m having an amputation. I have a recurrence of the tumor, but without metastasis”. Words spoken with a smile that the father comments on: “He was a bit commercial that night, he sold the little positive he found.” On Instagram, the latter had already expressed his admiration for the sports commentator, describing a determination “surprising and oh so stimulating”.