notre-histoire-index - nanoufoundation

Marlyse "Nanou" Dourdent

2000 - 2015

"Happiness comes from within and not from outside, because it does not depend on what you own. It depends on what you are."

Nanou. Facebook - 2014

Nanou's Story

Marlyse, known as "Nanou", was born in Cameroon in a family of four children.

Very early on, she went to school and loved to read and write; the teachers found her to be very bright and rather curious for her age. She was a young girl who loved to laugh and have fun with children her own age; she radiated a joy for life.

Unfortunately, very quickly, Nanou began to complain of pain in her hands, which started to prevent her from writing and, above all, from going to school because she had to spend much of her time in the hospital without the doctors knowing what she was suffering from. They tried several therapies, all of which failed one after the other... the pain was not relieved.

At the age of 10, Nanou arrived in France where she was treated at a university hospital in the south of France. After multiple tests over several weeks, a diagnosis was finally made: Nanou suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and severe kidney failure—very rare conditions in a child of her age, caused by an autoimmune disease.

Thus began an obstacle course to try to slow the progression of these conditions, which could be very rapid. Several therapies were tried jointly by the rheumatology and nephrology teams at the North Marseille University Hospital and La Timone.

At the same time, Nanou continued her schooling at the hospital. This school, which came to her in the ward, was a real breath of fresh air for her, as she only aspired to keep learning in order to one day become a teaching doctor. Like many patients, Nanou stayed the course with her studies and managed to earn her diploma... which made her proud, as well as the teaching staff.

Nanou became a very stylish teenager, who did not feel "sick"... despite gaining 30 kg in two years—linked to a new immunotherapy treatment—and despite the disabling pain that prevented her from moving around daily without the help of a cane or, very soon, a wheelchair.

Nanou was allowed to go home for a weekend, and she wanted to organize a crepe night with her friends; even though she could no longer move around, she still kept laughing, told us stories from the hospital, and said she was the doctor's favorite! The laughter was endless.

The following weekend, Nanou again asked to spend a weekend with her family, and permission was granted! It had been more than two years since we had the chance to have her at home so often, two weekends in a row! Hope was reborn, and so was Nanou's dream...

She arrived without the morphine pump, her face serene. She said she was lucky to be well cared for at the hospital and, above all, to be able to continue her studies. She then told us about her plan to return to Cameroon later to help sick children too, when she had achieved her goal of becoming a doctor.

The evening was beautiful, we had fun customizing her wheelchair, she said she felt very good and watched us all in turn, smiling! We were all happy that night, the house was brightened by her presence and her bursts of laughter.

"The next day my star had a seizure and passed away at the North Marseille hospital where she had been transferred in an emergency.
When I think back to that weekend... it was just a goodbye she came to give us, in a state of pure happiness and joy.
Nanou, our light, this force of nature, left us in March 2015.
I just want her not to be forgotten, this brave and loving little girl who held on until the end with a smile in the face of her pain.

She who, despite her young age, took life with great philosophy.
That is why we wanted to set up this foundation—which bears her name—in order to continue her dream of caring for sick people and educating the children of her native country.
Nanou used to dream alone in her hospital room. I would like us to dream together.
Because a dream alone remains a dream, a dream shared together can become reality."

Danieline Dourdent

*) We thank the pediatric rheumatology team of Dr. Karine Retornaz, Hôpital Nord de Marseille.