“Everything changed in an instant”, this mother made a frightening discovery after her husband’s serious stroke. It all starts on December 20, 2023, Christophe Alquier, the father of the family, is hospitalized. “He had a massive stroke,” Sophie confides in the columns of La Dépêche.
After a heavy toll, he escaped but with serious after-effects. “He is paralyzed in one arm and suffers from complete aphasia. He can no longer speak, read or write,” says the mother.
A mixed relief for the reconstituted tribe of five children because, very quickly, the situation turns into a nightmare. The liberal nurse, formerly of the Castres hospital, discovers a mountain of debts. Her husband, Christophe, took out a ton of credits without telling her. She will have to pay for everything out of her own pocket.
“Before the stroke, my husband took care of all the papers, the accounts… By collecting all this, I became aware of our financial situation…”, she remembers.
Christophe, employed at Voie Navigable de France and elected official in their small village of Guitalens-L’Albarède, has subscribed to a multitude of consumer credits. “I didn’t measure it… Christopher had taken out a lot of consumer credit in recent years. For small jobs, for the purchase of a vehicle…”, she confides. “To date, we have 167,000 euros in debt. That represents monthly payments of more than 3,000 euros… Not counting our house credit…”
Faced with this delicate situation, Sophie shows herself to be full of resilience. “I don’t blame him. He was always a pillar in our family. He took everything upon himself. He wanted to spoil us, then protect us. He fell into a trap. I know he feels a lot of guilt. He is unhappy because he cannot do anything to manage this situation,” she laments.
Since his stroke, her husband has been in rehabilitation in Purpan, in Toulouse. “He benefits from a few days of “permission” to go to the family home,” indicates Le Dépêche. “He might be able to recover some of his faculties,” Sophie hopes.
To make ends meet, Sophie no longer has a choice, she must ask for help from those around her. “I withdrew myself in the first months, I wanted to manage everything alone. My pride was touched… But I realized the obvious: alone, I couldn’t do it. I’m afraid. My biggest fear is “It’s losing the house. It’s just walls, but it’s our home,” she confides.
Today, Sophie uses food banks to feed her household. She sold her trinkets to try to repay the debt. His only desire is not to lose the house. She refuses to file an over-indebtedness file because her place of life is all she has left.
“We think it only happens to other people… We are all on track in our lives, but everything can change. We need to help each other, talk to each other.”
Advised by her friends, Sophie launched an online fundraiser. She has already raised more than 1,500 euros.