Very serious consequences. Three years after setting himself on fire in front of the Crous Lyon, Anas Kournif claims to have resumed “a normal life”. “Because nothing was going” at that time, because he “was exhausted”, the student activist had decided to kill himself in a spectacular gesture on November 8, 2019 at 2:50 p.m.
A burn-out due to his intense union activities in parallel with his studies, financial difficulties linked to the loss of his scholarship for having failed three times in the second year of his license, a “very” depressive behavior aggravated according to him by hypothyroidism… “I went to get a jerrycan from the station next door, poured five liters of petrol into it, threw it over my head and lit the fire with a sort of torch lighter,” he lets go in a neutral tone to play down his act which left him burned in the third degree, at more than 75%.
Between 30 and 45 operations
After being “saved” by Kevin, “a guy from the construction site next door” who took a fire extinguisher to extinguish the flames, the pain of burns ensues, five months of artificial coma, three months of continuous care, the all punctuated by operations – between 30 and 45 according to him, “perhaps even more”, hesitates Anas.
Today, the 25-year-old explains that he has resumed “a normal life” and continues his union activities. Dressed in black clothes camouflaging his body covered with scars, and equipped with a futuristic prosthesis in his right hand, he sips a Perrier puck in a Lyon guinguette after a demonstration organized for the interprofessional strike day of October 18.
“It’s important to me, I always take part in these kinds of events,” he told AFP, raising his glasses which keep slipping on his burnt nose.
“People’s gaze can be a bit difficult”
Very active since his 15 years in the socialist movement, Anas remains, for some, a symbol of the distress that young students sometimes face. “His gesture put the subject of student precariousness in the public debate”, estimates Magalie, 22, her friend since 2018, insisting on “the psychological distress linked to (their) living conditions”. “Studies are survival for some students, and Anas has paid the price. This precariousness, he will have marked it in his flesh for life, and fortunately he is still there to talk about it, ”adds the sociology student at Lyon 2
Today a student in L3 in political science at Lyon 2, his convictions have not changed, “except on disability”, nuances the one who has become a scholarship holder again and who now receives the allowance for disabled adults (AAH).
“When we knew he was going to come back, we quickly organized ourselves to help him find a student life as well as possible and give him the best possible chance of succeeding in his training project”, testifies Nathalie Dompnier. , president of the Lumière University, referring to an adjustment of the end-of-year exams, courses adapted to her medical appointments and support for the disability mission.
“I live a normal life as a student”, confirms Anas, despite the after-effects. Released from the rehabilitation center on April 30, 2021, he joined the streets the next day to demonstrate on May 1. The boy has retained many traces on the body, he was also amputated of a toe and partial of three others. “People’s gaze can be a bit difficult. In the metro, they tend not to sit next to me,” he says. But “I didn’t let this thing get me down and if I got out of it, it was to do something and live my life”, insists the one who is heading for the customs inspector competition after a master and who would like to create his own trade union and political party.