the story of the two "forgotten" heroes
(article translated from Dutch)
The entire world knows the story of the Americans and the British who conquered the shooter on the Thalys. Before they succeeded in doing so, two other passengers risked their lives trying the same. On the French radio the wife of one of them told their story.
Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Chris Norman : this quartet succeeded in overpowering the shooter on the Thalys train which was en route from Amsterdam to Paris. They received the medal of the Legion d'Honneur at the Elysee Palace in Paris from the hands of the French President Francois Hollande.
However, the story of the French-American professor Mark Moogalian (51) and a young Frenchman of 28 ( who prefers to remain anonymous) seems to be overlooked. They were the first to subdue the gunman before Stone, Skarlatos , Sadler and Norman managed to overpower him. Moogalian was severely injured.
On the French radio station Europe 1 Isabella Risacher-Moogalian, wife of the professor, testified about what she and her husband had witnessed on the train.
"My husband and I sat facing each other in carriage 12 ," she said. "I was sitting with my back to the door and did not see what was going on behind me. My husband did have a view of the door and saw a man with a big bag stepping into the toilet. It felt strange , especially because the man remained very long in the toilet . When the man finally left the toilet, my husband shouted:" Go away, this is serious , " I suddenly looked to my left and saw a huge gun. My husband got up and ran toward the door and threw himself on the gunman in an attempt to take his rifle from him. Meanwhile, another man had already thrown himself on the shooter as well. " It was the 28 -year-old anonymous Frenchman. I searched for cover a few seats further back. I saw my husband suddenly collapse. He was hit by a bullet. The bullet had penetrated his back and had left through his neck. He looked at me and said, "I 'm hit. It's over. " He thought he would die. There was blood everywhere. I walked up to him and began to bind off his wounds. Then I noticed the wound on his neck , I went to seek help in wagon 11 but nobody wanted to help. "
I returned to carriage 12, where the Americans in the mean time had overpowered the shooter. Spencer Stone took care of the wound of my husband. He put pressure on the wound in his neck and continued to do so until we reached the station of Arras. I think he saved my husband 's life.
At the time I did not realize what had happened . I was awfully scared. I thought we would all die. The shooter did not say anything. Not a word. It was a small, frail man, yet resisted like crazy against anyone who wanted to overpower him . He was strong."
Both Moogalian and the anonymous Frenchman will also get a medal of the Legion d' Honneur , as Hollande has announced.
