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Reading 3 min.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
April 24, 2024
At the ages of 5 and 7, Michel and Patrice lived alone in a wood for 7 years. An extraordinary story, told by director Olivier Casas, in the film “Frères”. How can we explain such a survival instinct? The opinion of Dr Gérald Kierzek.
It’s an unusual story. That of two little boys, abandoned by their mother, who survived for 7 years in a wood in Châtelaillon. A news story that has long remained secret is told in the feature film “Frères”, in theaters this Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
Left to their own devices for 7 years in the woods
It was in 1948, during a summer camp in Châtelaillon, that Michel and Patrice’s mother decided to abandon them. Left to their own devices, the children decide to stay in the building that houses the colony, before fleeing when they discover a corpse – that of the owner, who committed suicide.
Aged 5 and 7, the two young boys then took refuge in a wood, near the Boucholeurs canal. Seven years of total freedom followed, where they learned to gather, hunt, fish and craft.
“Our adaptation was very rapid, we had no choice. We had to eat, protect ourselves. Patrice went hunting and I cut up the rabbit. Our complementarity has been essential for our survival“, confides Michel de Robert de Lafregeyre, the youngest of the brothers, to AFP.
A hostile environment
Surprisingly, at that time: the prefecture was not even alerted of their disappearance. If the two children have not been found, it is because “no one was looking for us“, assures Michel de Robert.
“At the time between 1945 and 1947, it was not at all incredible. 90,000 children were left without parents. 340,000 were separated from their families. There were plenty of children like us. In the streets of Paris too. But we put a lid on it. Nobody wanted to talk about it. I’m happy to make this film so that people can say it.” he confides to our colleagues at La Free Charente.
Having to steal chickens or eggs to survive, the boys come up against the nastiness of the villagers. “Stones were thrown at us. We were in rags, we were not welcomed with open arms. A peasant knew that eggs and chickens were being stolen from him, and he shot us with a gun. There was great distrust after the war. Nobody was interested in us. This is what we need to understand“, he explains again.
Physical and neurological abilities “develop”
Faced with this hostility, human and forest, how can we explain the survival of the two young boys – who claim to have “never been sick” in 7 years? How do we feed ourselves, hunt, find drinking water at the age of 5 and 7? For Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo, it is above all a “survival instinct”.
“At this age, it is the survival instinct that takes over. Neurological abilities develop; the digestive tract adapts. Here, the eldest had to support his little brother. They had to learn to manage their fears, but also to hydrate and eat, because without water, you die in 3 days and without food, you last 30 days at most. The risk of poisoning is real, but once again, the body adapts“, reveals Dr. Gérald Kierzek.
Plus, the fact that there might have been two of them might have helped. During the discovery of 4 children who had survived 40 days in the jungle in Colombia, Dr Jean-Louis Chabernaud, pediatric resuscitator and AP-HP international medical advisor, also underlined the role of siblings, the fact of being carried by the oldest. “But sometimes the fact that there are smaller ones also helps, forcing us to surpass ourselves, to invent games to stay alive.” the doctor mentioned.
Faced with this exceptional story – and the remarkable resourcefulness of the young boys – the anxiety of sending our dear little ones to stretch out in green class appears less obvious to us…