"The day I burned my heart": Jonathan Destin tells us the ordeal of school bullying



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INTERVIEW – TF1 airs this Monday, October 5 "The day I burned my heart", a fiction inspired by the true story of Jonathan Destin, this young boy harbaded for years who decided to immolate himself by fire for to finish. Meeting with a young man who is trying to rebuild himself today.

– Rania Hoballah

His story is overwhelming. TF1 airs this Monday, October 5 "The day I burned my heart", a TV movie inspired by the story of Jonathan Destin. On February 8, 2011, tired of being harbaded for years by clbadmates, the 16-year-old decides to end his life by setting himself on fire. Saved in extremis, Jonathan is burned to two-thirds of his body. He will spend two years in the hospital.

Even today, his injuries are hurting him, but he has decided to go ahead and do everything in his power to help the victims of harbadment, a plague that affects one in 10 students in France. After having published in 2013 a book that tells his story, "Sentenced to kill me (XO Editions), he hopes that the fiction of TF1, freely inspired by its history, will make things happen." Meeting with a young man who commands respect .

LCI: How did you react when you saw the TV movie?

Jonathan Destin: It's wonderful, I could not have imagined that. I tell myself that it will help many people in difficulty. Do not stay locked in your corner, to fight harbadment, you have to talk about it.

We feel ashamed when we are harbaded, when we should not. How do you explain it?

I was ashamed of my dad because he was always strong. At school he was never bothered, he was rather the brute. He did not let it go. Same for my grandfather. In the family, men are strong.

You started to be harbaded at the age of 10, and you had a hell. What were you told?

It lasted 6 years. I was harbaded then racketed after. Initially, it was small teasing, bullying, then the blows started. As soon as I cut my hair, it was shot in the head. They made fun of my family name too: "Your destiny is to be fat". It has grown with time.

I am in a period of reconstruction, I move forward, every step I take is a step further. Jonathan Destin

You did not have any friends to help you?

At the beginning of the school year, I managed to make one or two friends, but as they saw that I was being harbaded, they left. They did not want to be part of the harbaders' clan.

In fiction, your father says, "If he wakes up, he will not have life." What does your life look like today?

Even today, I have to be treated for my burns because I lived in the hospital for two whole years. But I'm in a period of reconstruction, I'm going forward, every step I take is another step. I want to move and make things happen in terms of harbadment, and for me too. Continue to talk about it, it helps me psychologically. I am often contacted by people who have experienced the same thing, teachers, parents. They ask me for advice.

What advice can you give them?

You have to talk about it and not stay in your corner. It is speech that can free us from harbadment. At the time, when I was harbaded I did not know what to do, I was lost.

I told myself that the pain of fire could not be worse than the one I felt.Jonathan Destin

Have you returned to school?

No, I never went back to school after what happened. Here I am doing a school upgrade. I would like to do some training, maybe in computer science. I have some ideas.

Did the people who harbaded you apologize at one point?

My stalkers did not come to apologize. I would have liked … But maybe with the movie, they will. On the other hand, I met a stalker from Lyon, who had also been harbaded. He made a great letter to apologize on behalf of the stalkers of France.

Why did you choose to burn yourself by fire, it's very violent …

Yes it's very hard. Initially, I thought about taking medication. But the day my stalkers put a gun on my temple, I thought I had to finish quickly before they cut me off. I did not see any other way out. I told myself that the pain of fire could not be worse than the one I felt.

Today, do you regret your action?

Verry much. But I tell myself that I must go beyond all that and continue to live. We can always rebuild ourselves.

It seems that you are a fan of Michael Youn, who plays the high school principal in fiction …

Yes, very fan! I met him on the day of filming in Strasbourg. It was really a dream. I loved chatting with him, he's great, very human too.

What is your dream today?

Today, I dream of taking my independence. And to have a normal life: to found a family, to have my car, and to get up every day to go to work.

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