The idea of Comme les autres is to enable individuals affected by life accidents, often from road or sports incidents, to access their rights, adapt their mobility means, housing, leisure activities, engage in regular physical activity, and reintegrate socio-professionally.
"When you have this kind of accident, at first it’s a tragedy. It’s a personal tragedy, and often it’s a tragedy for those around you as well,” explains Jonathan Jeremiasz. “So, initially, there’s a whole period of shock and depression that one must overcome, and it’s essential to bounce back as quickly and effectively as possible.”
Once out of the rehabilitation center, which resembles a cocoon, returning home often signals a much more challenging period, particularly difficult for the association's primary audience, namely young men who already faced economic and social difficulties, which are exacerbated after the accident. This is where they may need support like that offered by Comme les autres.
A comprehensive support system includes individual follow-up provided by a social worker who will co-create a reconstruction project with the beneficiary that spans 12 months. Additionally, there is a collective journey with adventure sports trips and thrilling experiences.
“We bring together individuals with motor disabilities and able-bodied individuals for a few days by the sea or in the mountains, and they engage in sports and thrilling activities together,” recounts Jonathan Jeremiasz. “And this has a very powerful effect for individuals with disabilities, helping them regain self-confidence, reconcile with their bodies, and reconnect with able-bodied individuals, who sometimes become a bit like enemies after the accident because they don’t have the right behavior or the appropriate gaze. So these trips allow everyone to be on equal footing and to recharge. They come out of it with great energy and enthusiasm.”
Locally, the association also organizes more traditional sports or cultural activities that help rebuild social connections.
“With this mix of individual support, adventure trips, and local collective activities, we manage to significantly improve individuals' life trajectories within a year and help them regain a relatively normal daily life, which has obviously changed drastically due to significant modifications in certain motor capacities, but which does not define the person who is primarily a human being with many abilities, capable of doing many things. So it’s also about changing the perspective on oneself and on the life that awaits us, which is part of the support process,” concludes Jonathan Jeremiasz.
