His father tried to kill him: "I understood that my father had just shot me"

Jean-Pierre and his mother were victims of violence from his father.

After his mother's suicide when he was 13, Jean-Pierre lived alone with his father.

One day, the latter tried to kill him.

Jean-Pierre confides to Olivier Delacroix why he granted his forgiveness to his father upon his release from prison.

TESTIMONY

As a child, Jean-Pierre was beaten by his alcoholic father.

His mother, also a victim of his father's violence, committed suicide when he was 13 years old.

Jean-Pierre then lived alone with his father until the latter carried out his death threats and shot him when he was 18 years old.

When his father was in prison, Jean-Pierre met a pastor and discovered the faith.

He tells Olivier Delacroix about his journey towards forgiveness granted to his father.

>> Listen to Jean-Pierre's testimony in full here

From an early age, Jean-Pierre was confronted with his father's violence, he recalls: "Violence was daily in my family, both psychological and physical. My father was violent towards my mother. I was a child. My father terrorized me. I learned very quickly to survive in these conditions. I was constantly in anticipation of what could happen. I often heard my father say: 'One day I will kill you because that you do not bring anything to this world. It was very difficult to grow up in these conditions. These are lies, but when you are a little boy, you believe your parents. "

He recounts the events leading up to his mother's death: "My father had attacked me again and my mother tried to intervene. He hit my mother and kicked us out. My mother and I slept in a tent in the garden. The next morning my father accused my mother of having sex with me. It completely destroyed her. She got drunk and took medicine. C It was I who found his body. I felt like I was being torn from the world of childhood and thrown violently into the world of adults. "

"

My father grabbed a small ax and threw it at me

"

After the death of his mother, Jean-Pierre then lived alone with his father: "When my father exploded, he took the first thing he had on hand. Once, we were in the garden when my father exploded. . Out of fear, I ran away because I knew it was going to be very bad. My father grabbed a small ax and threw it at me. I took it behind my head and it hit me. scar It wasn't the sharp side that hit it I was very lucky.

When I started karate, I had this deep conviction that I had to learn to defend myself in order to protect myself and be able to say when I reach a certain age: 'That's enough'.

Karate was a sport that suited me perfectly.

I did a lot of competitions and won a few titles.

I was starting to have a great career in this sport.

At one point, I realized that I was physically taking over my father.

My dad saw that too. "

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I saw my father as an assassin

"

One day, Jean-Pierre's father put his death threats into action: "I ran into my father on the stairs, he was armed with a rifle. By meeting his gaze, I immediately understood that 'He was going to shoot. The shot was gone. I had a severe pain in my chest. I couldn't realize what was going on. I thought to myself that he couldn't have done that. had blood everywhere. I understood that my father had just shot me. It was a very difficult time, because I saw my father as a murderer. Everything is falling apart. "

That day, Sandrine, Jean-Pierre's wife, was there.

She recounts how she experienced this event: “I heard the gunshot. I didn't want to admit it was a gunshot. I saw the blood on her hand. up the stairs, there was his father with the gun. I couldn't deny the obvious any longer. Thoughts were racing in my head. He had to be saved. I helped him to stand up as best I could. C 'It's amazing the strength we can have in these moments. I left with Jean-Pierre. His father did not follow us. We knew afterwards that he had gone to hide the weapon. " 

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I wanted him to be able to receive my forgiveness

"

During his convalescence, Jean-Pierre settled in a campsite and had a family for neighbors: "It was the first time that I could observe a father with his children and his wife. I heard this dad talking to his children , with all the gentleness he had. I began to spy on them I was so intrigued. I observed this man mainly because I was waiting for the misstep. He got angry with one of his children, him spanked and said, 'Just because I spanked you doesn't mean that I don't like you.' It stung me. I needed to know this person. We got to know each other. He told me he was a pastor. "

Jean-Pierre then discovered the faith which led him to forgive his father: "On December 24, 1991, I received a phone call. It was my father who told me that he had been released from prison. For me it was a great joy. I needed to see him. I wanted him to be able to receive my forgiveness. It was a very emotional moment, which I will remember all my life. and we hugged each other, we cried for each other and I said to him: 'Daddy, I forgive you.' For me, forgiveness was synonymous with hope to rebuild something with my father .

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He was a great grandfather to my two boys

"

I was really hoping that I could build a relationship with him and that's what happened. Confidence has been built with him over the years. He showed me how much he regretted. He was a great grandfather to my two boys. If forgiveness was granted, we would not go back on things. I really wanted us to be able to build this relationship that we missed so much when I was little. I have seen how far he has come since his release from prison. It was fantastic.

In my heart, I always had this desire to tell myself I will never do like my father. I wanted to have a boy to give him everything my father hadn't given me. At the same time, I had an almost visceral fear because I wondered if I was able to be a good dad and not fall in the same ways as my father. Deep down, I thought I could do it, but it was an irrational fear that was there. " 

Jean-Pierre is now 41 years old. He has just been officially adopted by Anne-Marie and Francis, two parishioners he met when he was 18 years old. Anne-Marie remembers Jean-Pierre's 20 years, which they celebrated together: "At the time, we didn't have a lot of money. I was a little embarrassed, because I didn't have a big present to give him. I made a nice cake. We wrapped a little T-shirt. We sang for him and the children got around him to kiss him. He burst into tears. was overcome with emotion that someone loves him so much. 

It had never happened to him.

It was so overwhelming.

Something opened in my heart.

Our children were the first to adopt Jean-Pierre as a big brother. "Francis continues:" We used to hug and kiss each other in the family.

When Jean-Pierre arrived, he was immediately integrated.

It was something that was amazing to him.

He wasn't used to that.

Adopting Jean-Pierre was a way of saying: 'This is our story.

We want what happened to happen publicly. '" 

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