At 16, Mathis Guillerand is a teenager comfortable in his skin and in his life. This brilliant judoka also received his black belt at the start of the year, showing extraordinary self-sacrifice despite a very difficult recent past.
One bad day in February, Mathis, then in 5th grade and aged 12, learned news that would change his life, that of his family and that of his Dojo Nivernais club: “I had been tired for some time by incessant pain in my legs, on which I had bruises. But bruising for a judoka is just normal so we weren’t worried. The pains were getting stronger and that day, I finally managed to take a quiet nap. When I woke up, I had a paralyzed eye, we made the decision to go to the emergency room to find out what was going on. After several batteries of examinations, the verdict falls: I have leukemia”.
At 12, we don’t necessarily know what leukemia means.
Even if the young man feels that the announcement is not sympathetic, he found himself spared by the harshness of the sentence: “at 12 years old, we do not necessarily know what leukemia means. Well when I saw my mother cry, I suspected that there was something serious. I was directed to Dijon hospital immediately to begin chemotherapy treatments. I was given morphine for a month to calm the pain, the intensity of it felt being the same as in the case of a fracture according to the specialists, I did not understand what I had really. On the other hand, the trigger was when I started to lose my hair, for me the association hair loss-cancer was then obvious. I immediately told my relatives that we were going to fight together, and that we would get there. The only thing that bothered me then was to think that I would never be able to set foot on a tatami again”.
The trigger was when I started losing my hair.
Then follow six months of hospitalization for his treatments, during which Mathis hangs on by continuing his college courses in his hospital bed, even on the day of his numerous lumbar punctures.
Very surrounded by his parents, Sébastien and Laëtitia, as well as by his little brothers, he received an extraordinary message which he still speaks of today with emotion: “There were French championships by team that we could see on a channel specialized. Of course I was in front, the Nevers team showed up on the mat with a message of support for me. They were waiting for me to continue to make me progress”.
17 kg less
Having lost no less than 17 kilos in his fight, the now high school student at Jules-Renard in the first science-dominated class, Mathis decided to focus on basketball for a year, in Guérigny, to get back in shape in a less demanding sport in level of contacts while regularly going to the Dojo.
Then, in 2019, Mathis launched the challenge of the black belt thanks to the help of Daniel Martin and Pierre Monette, two club technicians who provided a personalized schedule to help him achieve his goals.
“I got out of it thanks to everyone around me, and the club has a prominent place in my fight and my recovery. I can only thank you”, concludes Mathis with a very broad smile.
