French rugby players come to the rescue after retirement home lift breaks down
'Before we started warming up I told the players that we were going on a little mission,' said the coach
“It only took half an hour and they offered us a beer at the end," said head coach Germain Miny,
Damien Tirole
On a particularly hot day at the end of May, members of a rugby team in the Doubs department of France helped out the local retirement home after residents were left stranded on the ground floor due to broken-down elevators.
“We were about to start our Thursday training session [May 28] when the mayor called. So, before we started warming up I told the players that we were going on a little mission,” said Germain Miny, head coach at Pays Maichois rugby club since 2004.
“We did not give it a second thought,” he added.
Some 12 team members made their way to Maîche retirement home and began carrying residents with reduced mobility to their bedrooms.
“It was quite funny. One woman even joked to us that her room was on the second floor when actually she was on the first, just so we could carry her for longer,” said Mr Miny.
It took four people to carry one resident - two holding the front of their wheelchair and two holding the back.
“The chairs are very expensive so we wanted to be extra cautious not to cause any damage,” he explained.
“It only took half an hour and they offered us a beer at the end, which the players politely declined because they wanted to get back to their training session - they were well behaved,” said Mr Miny with a smile.
The following day, the elevators were repaired.
A community-minded sports club
In the days and weeks that followed, members of the rugby team were surprised by people’s reactions to their act of kindness.
“When we realised that this story was getting so much media attention, in some ways it has made us feel quite sad because we just did a simple thing that seemed completely normal to us - but today, it is as if lending a hand is something exceptional.
“Why has something so simple become something so extraordinary? Why are we being congratulated for something that anyone should do,” stated Mr Miny.
The club has already held fund raisers for different charities and projects in the community - including one local who moved to Madagascar to build an orphanage with his family.
“Building an orphanage seems far more impactful than what we did at the retirement home - but people seem more interested in hearing our story. It is quite unexpected.
“We are one of the smallest rugby teams in France with 26 members. A good part of the team has been with us for over 15 years and it can be tricky to get young people involved, so we know that there is a chance the club could disappear when we are no longer fit to play.
"So if anything, it is nice that the club can be remembered through its acts of solidarity like this.”
