Italian international Maxime Mbanda volunteer paramedic in Parma

From the third line on the field to the front line facing the coronavirus. Italian rugby international Maxime Mbanda, a paramedic in Parma, is at the heart of the fight against illness and testifies to a frightening reality.

Last Saturday, Mbanda should have faced England in front of 60,000 people in Rome for the VI Nations Tournament. A match which like so many others has been postponed. Instead, mask on the face and full protective suit, he went on a fourth day as an ambulance driver alongside the volunteers of the Yellow Cross of Parma, in Emilia-Romagna, one of the areas most affected by l coronavirus epidemic.

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"When everything was canceled with rugby, I wondered how I could help, even without medical skills," he told AFP. I found the Yellow Cross, which had a transport service for medicines and food for the elderly. "But after a day delivering masks, food and medical prescriptions, the physical strength of the third line of the Zebre Rugby, the Parma club, was put to use where it was most useful," on the front , at the heart of the problem ".

“I found myself transferring positive patients from one hospital in the region to another. I help with the stretcher or if there are patients to carry from a wheelchair. I also have oxygen, ”he explains. And what he testifies to is an absolute emergency, where "95% of hospital structures are devoted to patients with coronavirus".

"What I see are people of all ages, on respirators, on oxygen"

"If people saw what I see in hospitals, there would no longer be a line in front of the supermarkets. They would think about it two, three or four times before leaving their home, even to go running, says the 26-year-old champion. What I see are people of all ages, on respirators, on oxygen, doctors and nurses on duty at 20 or 22 hours, who do not sleep a minute of the day and who are just trying to rest a little the next day. "

A crisis situation? "I wish I could say that the situation here is at the limit. But I'm afraid I have to say that this is no longer the case. "Without any medical experience, but supported by his partner and his surgeon father in Milan," also on the front line ", the rugby player must also become a psychologist in contact with patients installed" in departments where the agenda, it's death ".

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"When you see their eyes ... Even if they can't speak, they communicate with the eyes and they tell you things you can't imagine," he says. They hear the alarms, the doctors and nurses who run from one department to another. The first person I got out of the hospital told me that he had arrived three hours ago when his next-door neighbor died. And during the night, two other women died in her room. He had never seen anyone die, ”he adds.

So you have to behave with these patients "as if they were relatives or relatives". "But the terrible thing is that each time you touch them, a simple caress in the ambulance to comfort them, you must immediately disinfect your hands," regrets the third line.

"As long as there is an emergency, I stay there"

He is cautious but goes ahead. “I started eight days ago, with no break and with 12 or 13 hour rotations. But faced with what I see in the infectious disease rooms, I tell myself that I cannot be tired, "he assures, convinced that others could help.

"Fear is normal. But there are little things that can be done safely that would provide half an hour or an hour of rest for those on the front line. For them, an hour is essential. Accustomed with the Italian team to hunt and tackle stronger opponents, Mbanda in any case, will not give up. "As long as I have strength, I will continue. I'm here and I stay there. As long as there is an emergency, I stay there. "

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• Coronavirus
• Sport
• Italy
• Rugby