On the evening of May 7, 2017, he saw the attackers of Erwan and Steven, two young people beating coldly at the Du Chaffault stop in Nantes. This motorist turned around and went dark to help them. Thibault Taillandier will be awarded the medal of homeland security on December 14th.

It's a little antihero. A young man with a keen gaze, determined air, who thinks he just did his duty as a citizen that night. " A

act, all that is most normal. He assisted Erwan and Steven, 18 and 16, who were being beaten by members of the ultra-right.

Thibault Taillandier, 29, was returning from the movies with his roommate and his girlfriend on May 7, 2017, around midnight. It was the evening of the election of Emmanuel Macron to the presidency of the Republic. At the wheel of his car, he was getting ready to go home, near the Du Chaffault tram stop. "I saw young people fighting. I thought of a banal neighborhood brawl. But on approaching, Thibault quickly changes his mind. He rushes, stops short after a controlled skid: "It was instinctive, but I think it was decisive. With his roommate, they burst out. "The attackers ran off. "

Thibault assists Steven, 16, in panic. "I saw that he was not badly injured but in shock. He does not know that Erwan lies a few meters away, bathed in his blood, between life and death. "And then I saw some feet protruding from the road. "

"Spectators of violence"

Thibault discovers a frail young man, lying on the ground, who is struggling to breathe, his face swollen, unrecognizable. "He did not answer, spat blood. His girlfriend calls the fire department. Thibault fails to put Erwan in a lateral safety position. "It worried me, I thought cervicals were affected. A bicycle rescuer then crosses the rails to help him while waiting for the firefighters. "Then we stayed an hour to wait for the police who did not come. "

Why did he stop that night? "Why did not others do it? There must have been others before me! Thibault refuses to endorse the label of "savior" but is revolted against "gratuitous violence" and against a society that makes people spectators of their lives. "The only times we see violence is in video games or movies. "

The native of Nantes Quimper became a computer graphics artist after a chaotic school career, although from a privileged background. His job has nothing to do with his act, even if he creates 3D operations for the medical community. An award ? "I did not care , " but he accepted the medal with kindness for Erwan's mother who struggled to get it. "A very touching woman," he says.