France is honouring a Catholic backpacker as a “hero” after he fought off a man attacking children with a knife in a playground.
The frenzy of stabbings in the lakeside park in the Alpine town of Annecy left four children aged between 22 months and three years – including a British girl called “Ettie” – fighting for the lives.
Henri, 24, whose family has requested that his surname be omitted, was himself attacked by the assailant, named by in the media as Abdelmasih H., but shielded himself with his backpack before giving chase.
He later told French media that his Catholic faith motivated him to try to save the lives of the children without hesitation from the 31-year-old Syrian refugee who was granted asylum in Sweden in 2011.
“When you know that you’re loved by God and that he saved our lives, you can act without thinking too much about your own (life) to try and save those of the children,” he told French broadcaster BFMTV.
“In that moment, you unplug your brain and react a bit like an animal by instinct,” he said.
“I am far from alone in having reacted,” he continued. “Many other people around started, like me, to run after him to try to scare him, push him away. And other people immediately went over to the children to take care of the injured.”
He added: “You just let the Virgin Mary and God take over and let them decide.”
Henri’s father François told Associated Press: “He took a lot of risks – when he wasn’t armed, with just his backpacks.
“He didn’t stop running after him for many minutes, to stop him from coming back and massacring the kids even more. I think he prevented carnage by scaring him off. Really very courageous.”
Henri was passing through Annecy because it was the 25<sup>th</sup> stage of a nine-month tour of 170 cathedrals and major churches of France, which began from the traditionalist Benedictine Abbey of Sainte Madeleine du Barroux some months ago.
President Emmanuel Macron later met Henri and told him: “You experienced very hard moments, traumatising … I am very proud of you.”
According to AP, Henri asked the president to be invited to the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris next year, following repairs to the cathedral damaged in a fire in 2019.
“I’ll take care of it personally,” the French leader said.
The three-year-old British girl has since improved and is conscious and watching television, and a two-year-old Dutch girl has also improved.
A 70-year-old adult critically injured by the both the attacker’s knife a bullet fired by a police officer has also regained consciousness. A second injured adult, aged 78, has been discharged from hospital.
<em>(Photo of Palais de l'Île, Annecy | Wiki commons)</em>
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