Samuel Le Bihan has sole custody of his autistic daughter Angia: “It wasn’t my choice…”

Solène Delinger 11:10 a.m., April 1, 2024

The fight of a lifetime... Since 2011 and the birth of his daughter Angia, suffering from autism, Samuel Le Bihan has done everything to ensure that his child does not suffer any discrimination. The

actor is also committed to helping other parents of autistic children, who are very often in need, by co-founding the information and guidance platform Autisme Info Service.

“Disability, either you run away from it, or you take it head on”

Sunday March 31, Samuel Le Bihan spoke with emotion about this aspect of his life in front of Audrey Crespo-Mara in

, on TF1. “Disability, you either run away from it, or you take it head on, but it’s not at your fingertips,” he believes. He had to face it alone. Divorced from Angia's mother, Samuel Le Bihan obtained sole custody of their child, then five years old. “It’s not my choice. I won’t give you details, but it wasn’t my choice,” he confides to Audrey Crespo-Mara.

At the time, Samuel Le Bihan feared not being up to the task. “I'm scared, I don't really know how to do it, so I'm going to go on a trip with her, and we're going to spend our time for two years traveling: Asia, the United States, Africa,” says he. “I take her to the shoots, I school her, (and on the shoots) everyone helps me. It works really well, we are both, we are happy”.

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“Her perpetual quest is to be accepted”

At school, Angia is unfortunately confronted with the cruelty of the other children. Building relationships takes a lot of effort. “Her perpetual quest is to be accepted,” explains Samuel Le Bihan. So, her daughter develops “her own strategies” to make friends. “She learned to defend herself too,” adds the actor. Now aged 13, Angia is integrating more and more easily. Samuel Le Bihan was also shocked by his admission to college. "Already that she was going to primary school, I didn't believe it at all, I saw it as something impossible and I said to myself 'we'll never go to secondary school', and one day we'll do assessments and everything suddenly they are talking about college,” he remembers, moved.

Because her daughter has come a long way: "A little girl who doesn't eat, who doesn't speak, who doesn't even know how to read an emotion on someone's face, an intention, who doesn't know the difference between a smile or tears, who is completely in his bubble and who will now go to fifth grade.” If his daily life with Angia is not always easy, Samuel Le Bihan considers himself lucky to have such an amazing daughter who has progressed so quickly. Tuesday April 2, the actor will receive the Legion of Honor for his commitment to autistic children and their parents.