Moselle. "He broke the door, I thought we were going to die": a traumatized private nurse attacked by a man at a patient's home

It was 5:40 a.m. on Tuesday, September 23, when Aurélie (name changed), a private nurse, began her rounds. The first patient she had an appointment with lived in Varsberg, near Creutzwald. “As I parked my car on the street, I saw a man walking along the sidewalk. I thought it was strange. Usually, at this time of day, I never run into anyone. I had a good nose…”

A few seconds later, Aurélie entered her patient's house, to which she had the keys. "I barely had time to begin treatment when the doorbell rang. My blood raced, and I immediately thought of the man in the street. I then opened the door a crack, leaving my foot on the ground to block it just in case. I did the right thing, it was him. He wanted to come in and said to me: 'Someone told me to come here.' I immediately slammed the door."

At that point, the man "exploded with rage" and made death threats through the door. "I could hear people yelling: 'Open the door,' 'I'm going to kill you,' 'you're going to die.' My priority was to keep the patient safe. I closed all the windows and bay windows. My fear was that he would come in."

As she runs into the house to make sure all the exits are closed, Aurélie calls 17 to report the attack.

Seconds pass like hours. Aurélie and her patient suddenly hear several cracks of glass. "He had just broken the glass in the door, still shouting his death threats and pressuring us to get in. I was scared out of my mind; I thought we were going to die."

Cloistered in the house, the two women had no choice but to wait. They owed their initial salvation to a neighbor who, from the street, managed to put the attacker to flight. The police then arrived on the scene around 6 a.m. and arrested the threatening man at 6:25 a.m. The police found a knuckle duster on him, among other things.

"Following his police custody, the alleged assailant was hospitalized for psychiatric care," said Squadron Leader Alan Joubioux, commander of the Boulay-Moselle gendarmerie company. "After his hospitalization, he will be brought before a judge for a preliminary admission of guilt hearing," he added.

Unable to return to work after the attack, Aurélie remains in shock. Her patient too. "I filed a complaint that very morning. Today, I'm afraid of running into that man again," admits the nurse, who, upon returning from vacation, is thinking of disrupting her entire round schedule in order to end in Varsberg, a village that is nevertheless very pleasant and peaceful the rest of the year...

"I want to publicize this story because I want it to be known and I want to alert my colleagues. I never thought I would be attacked while carrying out my duties, especially in a peaceful village like Varsberg. Even if this is an isolated incident, I want to call on everyone to be vigilant. Violence can be everywhere, even in rural areas."