Her ” boyfriend » He and Michel Denisot laughed about it together for years. “ There has always been a competition between us, to see who would be the best survivor career-wise. “, describe George Eddy who, unlike many of his elders “ comrades », kept its place on Canal + via its African subsidiary.
Since July 4, 2023, the word “survivor” resonates differently with the man who popularized the NBA in France. That day, his voice almost died. For real. While playing with young people aged barely 18 on a “playground” in Chatou (Yvelines), the sports commentator collapsed. Cardiac arrest. It took the decisive intervention of a young man, author of a massage of “ 13 minutes »for the ” resurrect “.
The basketball world could breathe. And the former presenter of the Grand Journal pointed out to him, by message, that he had “ won the game of life “. “ It must be said that if you die like that, it’s a good death. On a basketball court, it was symbolic. You fall asleep, you lose consciousness, there is no pain and you never come back », summarizes George Eddy, joined by USA Basketballadding, with a smile in his voice: “ But I’m still glad the kid revived me! »
A model playground in Yvelines
Despite his 67 years, the former professional player had until then continued to frequent these outdoor fields to challenge the youngest and satisfy his well-known thirst for competition. The sixty-year-old has made the playground on the island of the Impressionists, in Chatou, one of his play haunts.
It was there, during the restrictions linked to Covid, that he went with the others. Until ” 40 » players, including some from surrounding N1, N2 or N3 clubs. “ The level of play was incredible and the brotherly side during this crisis was truly fabulous », remembers George Eddy, who then realized to what extent these lands are essential places of life.
Playground de Chatou: we share with you this great topic from our teams on a playground that needs no introduction!
In the company of the LEGEND @georgeddy2 #SKWEEKLive #BetclicELITE pic.twitter.com/x9UNaCyLsS
— SKWEEK (@skweektv) September 24, 2023
The pandemic will be the starting point for yet another basketball project for him: Playground Time. Founded with his friend, coach and player, Guilhem Peaucelle, this association aims to develop basketball culture through the country’s playgrounds, keeping in mind that of Chatou. This one, considered as “ copy “, was renovated before Covid thanks to a participatory city budget of approximately 60,000 euros, which is very reasonable “.
The association intervenes as follows, “ voluntarily ”, to municipalities that would like to launch a similar project, “ where we do not waste public money, we choose the right materials (baskets, asphalt, etc.)sustainable… We have acquired a certain know-how. » And the flair to avoid, for example, the prices offered by suppliers who are too greedy.
Plans launched ahead of the Olympic Games
“ In recent years, what have municipalities done? They took on companies that were doing ‘city stadium’, with turnkey projects, without really asking the experts for their opinion. “, regrets the journalist who belongs to the majority of users to denounce the usefulness – except for schools in the ” small towns » – of these multi-sport fields, anything but suitable for playing basketball (height of the basket, covering, lines, etc.). The specialist specifies about his association: “ We have no interest, we don’t work for companies. On the other hand, we want to highlight those who work well. »
“ We want to defend the values of ‘good playgrounds’ where it is more a story of camaraderie and sharing. A place open to everyone, with free access. No need for a license, no schedule, no constraints… All the problems you can have in clubs », Lists the man who is also manager of the neighboring club at Vésinet, where he played with the alumni team.
Already no more nets at the new @Ville de Montesson playground. Pitch too narrow, no 3 pts on the ribs and no protection between the football and the fitness equipment (danger!). @PlaygroundTime could have avoided this waste! pic.twitter.com/fbcnXl8FOE
— George Eddy (@georgeddy2) August 23, 2023
This community dimension emerges from the Chatou model playground. There, young people take care of changing a worn net themselves, for example, thus avoiding waiting “ two months » if the municipality were to take charge of it. Since its creation, the association has supported more than thirty projects. Part of a commission on the renovation of land within Paris town hall, George Eddy is convinced that this momentum will continue because the funding is there.
The French Federation launched the FFBB 2024 “INFRA” plan which supports project leaders (affiliated clubs, regional or departmental councils, etc.) for the creation and rehabilitation of land. At the same time, the government launched the plan “ 5,000 sports fields », in conjunction with the National Sports Agency. An envelope of 200 million euros over the period 2022-2023 has been released to develop this equipment by 2024 and the Olympic Games.
Result, benefiting from a brand new playground is “ often the story of a few phone calls and a few letters » according to the specialist who participated, with “ World Basketball » in particular, to a previous wave of land construction in the 1990s. Land which, 30 years later, is awaiting its lick of paint.
At 16, he was given the keys to a playground in Orlando!
The journalist’s love story for playgrounds does not start today. In his early days near Orlando, Florida, where he grew up, the Franco-American played there almost exclusively, because access to the halls was generally reserved for high school teams. “ So I started playing with a lot of black players because they were the best, which made me progress. »
Around the age of 16, the local municipality entrusted him with a mission: now in possession of the keys to the playground next to his home, he would be paid to open and light the place. “ It was the dream! I put on the lights, played for four hours and got paid to be there. As they knew that I got along well with both communities, black and white, I was the perfect policeman when there were fights, which were not only racial. »
Active on outdoor stages, the young man of the time still managed to play indoors, spending his time “ follow everywhere » his best friend in high school and the ” 2nd best player in the state of Florida »: Stan Pietkiewicz, briefly with the San Diego Clippers and the Mavs starting in the late 1970s. « When he was allowed to go to the rooms, I followed him. He played four to five hours a day, he always wanted to face the best competition. His idol was Pete Maravich, he already shot from 8 meters like Steph Curry. »
Maxime saves George Eddy’s life
Memories of this 4th of July, George Eddy has none none “. He owes the story of his accident which could have cost him his life to his savior, Maxime Lang. “ After a double step, he takes his rebound, sits down, asks for a moment to breathe, lies down and loses consciousness », Describes the 21-year-old young man, also contacted by USA Basketball. “ That’s when they realize I stop breathing », adds the journalist. And then the young N3 player, a spectator that day because he has a friendly match with his team right away, takes matters into his own hands. Literally. 13 minutes of cardiac massage experienced as if they were “ 13 seconds “, until help arrived to administer two electric shocks and restart the journalist’s heart.
Maxime, the “ kid » whom he saw grow up, had just saved his life. “ He was exemplary in his composure, I consider him a bit like my son now, my grandson given my age. » On the phone with the Samu that day, Maxime admitted to being “ quite stressed “. Trained in first aid at college, he had never found himself in such a situation. He compares this stress to that of a “ start of a basketball match, the hardest part is taking the first step “.
Modestly, he adds: “ George fought harder than me. I am just one small thing in the cogwheel of his healing. I feel like it was a bad dream, not having done anything when I see his current state. He recovered so well, he has no after-effects. » His spontaneous gesture precisely avoided serious consequences for the journalist, who would not have hesitated to provide him with the same care. “ It’s almost as important as surviving because if I had been paralyzed or complemented gaga, I would have preferred to leave quite honestly. »
George Eddy had already scared himself two years earlier, when he suffered a heart attack. Since then, he knew he had to “ go easy » but continued to play, several times a week. Thinking of having regained his rhythm before his first accident. Today, the commentator says he learned “ [s]a lesson “. Playing intensely is over. Including in clubs: no longer possible to obtain a medical certificate.
Since this ordeal, he has sought to integrate this dimension of awareness of actions that save people from cardiac arrest within the association. A public health issue when we know that up to 50,000 people suffer cardiac arrest suddenly every year, of which about 5% survive.
This is an idea that PlaygroundTime would like to leverage on playgrounds. pic.twitter.com/KM8uLX75jD
— Playground Time (@PlaygroundTime) September 16, 2023
And retirement?
Cardiac massage? “ It’s not complicated. Of the six-year-old children saved their parents’ lives. We just need to inform and educate. I dream that on the first day of school or training in any sport, we show the young people what it is for 10 minutes. No need to train for three days », Judge George Eddy, still marked by the tragedies, on which he documented himself, where some were not able to intervene with a loved one.
“ With a little more awareness, we could save thousands of lives every year », assures the sixty-year-old, himself more alive than ever. “ It looks like I’m retired but that’s not the case. », assures the one who, in addition to the association and its academy for the most gifted young people of his club, leaves for “ at least one more season » on Canal + Afrique where he has been working since 2015. « When the NBA season starts again, I will work at the same pace as last year. It’s true that we no longer have the French team, and I miss it. But I admit that I didn’t regret not going to Jakarta to see the French eliminated after two matches! »
Retirement ? “ Unless I change my mind in a few months », it will be after the Paris Games, which he should commentate on for several sports channels. His recovery period after his heart stopped made him realize that he needed to feel ” useful »: « The idea of feeling inactive scares me a little. I am already preparing for retirement from professional life with these additional activities. The association has been great for me. But today, resuming my normal activities allows me to feel alive again. » Survivor’s words.
Photo credit (with permission of the author): Benjamin Pham
