The first things that strike you about Nicolas Rengade are his chestnut hair, frank gaze, and unfailing cheerfulness. The wheelchair he has been using on and off since the age of 14 is secondary. Nicolas will tell you that he is the “luckiest” of men.
A difficult childhood
It's true that he was blessed with a large, close-knit, and warm family that was the crucible of his faith in God. His life was not easy, though. At the age of 8 and a half, Nicholas was diagnosed with Duchenne disease. Doctors put his life expectancy at around 30 years.
A few months later, his childhood heart was “shaken” by the news of his parents' divorce, and “traumatized” by a devastating earthquake in Japan, where he had been living since the age of 3.
Returning to France at the age of 9, Nicholas gradually lost his physical independence. He had to give up walking in 2015.
Though he experienced heartbreak later that same year, nothing discouraged the young man. He forged many and varied friendships, became involved with the French Myopathy Association during high school, tried his hand at music and theater, and played every sport possible (tennis, badminton, table tennis...) before his condition forced him to finally give them up.
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More challenges
Nicholas, knowing his is short, makes the most of his life. “Death is not a sword of Damocles for me,” he assures us. “On the contrary, as it has long been part of my horizon, it increases my zest for life tenfold!”
In April 2023, however, he faced a new and dramatic series of challenges. In rapid succession Nicolas almost lost his eyesight, was hospitalized, and was put through a series of tests that eventually revealed he had multiple sclerosis.
“I had a one-in-60-million chance of having both diseases,” he says. “But still! I'm grateful for what life has given me. A very committed father by my side, a family made of gold, great friends from all walks of life, and the good fortune of knowing that God is always by my side.”
Unwavering joy and faith
Indeed, Nicholas's faith, inherited from his parents, has broadened his horizons and strengthened his mind. Still, he attached only relative importance to his Catholicism until he went to confession at Lourdes the year that he turned 16. The experience “radically changed” him, he says, filling him with an unalterable serenity.
“I felt a presence of love that filled the whole of my heart,” he explains. “I had so much joy inside me that I couldn't do anything but smile, smile at this divine presence, smile at the tenderness of my loved ones, smile at the beauty of my life.”
“I also realized that everyone has their own frailties, which call out to others.”
Since that day, Nicholas has forged a special bond with the Marian shrine. He travels there every year with his family for the National Pilgrimage of the Assumption — not as a sick person, but as a caregiver.
“Helping others is extremely important to me,” Nicholas says. “At first, I swallowed my pride and made myself ask everyone for help. I realized that other people were happy to give me help, and that it led to wonderful encounters. So I try to put myself at everyone's service, too.”
He adds with conviction, “I've also come to realize that everyone has their own frailties, which call out to others. Our humanity is revealed in this exchange.”
A balancing act with illness
This realization opened Nicholas's eyes to his true vocation: to help those who are stuck in a difficulty or struggling to find their way. After slogging his way through a law degree, Nicolas decided to become a coach.
Passion is now his driving force and gratitude his fuel: “Let's be grateful for what we are and for what the world gives us."
Nicholas has just written a book (in French) about his life: Mille joies et deux handicaps, by Nicolas Rengade, Editions Poésie-io, 2024, 101 pages.
