Something that many of us have come to realize about young children is the fact that they can be resourceful. That resourcefulness may even show up in the most amazing ways, which is what happened in southwestern France.
It all took place in an apartment in Nersac, where a 9-year-old French boy was left completely on his own by his mother. She had abandoned him, but he was not about to give up so easily.
For two years, he lived at the apartment on his own. At times, he had to live without electricity or heat but he continued to do what he could to keep his life going. This included taking himself to school.
From the ages of nine to 11, the young boy was living all on his own. Nobody noticed that the young child was living in this situation, including the school. They even reported that he was a good student.
Sometimes, the neighbors would bring him food but they still didn’t know that he was on his own. He would eat canned food and cake, just to get by.
Sometimes, he would go to a neighbor’s balcony and grab tomatoes to eat as well. He had to sleep with three large comforters, as he often didn’t have heat and electricity and he would use cold water to wash himself.
Meanwhile, his mother, only lived 5 km away from her son in a neighboring community. On occasion, the 39-year-old woman would visit him to give him food but it was not very often.
There hasn’t been any news about the boy’s father and it seems as if he is completely absent from the young one’s life. The mother and father had been separated and she decided to leave the apartment, and her child behind.
After many months had passed, the neighbors realized that the boy was living on his own so they called the police. According to the mayor of the community: ” challenge anyone who would’ve been able to detect this situation: a clean boy, a good student who was doing his homework.
“I think it was also a kind of protective shield that he built around himself to say ‘everything is fine.’”
One of the neighbors did report that she was verbally abusive to her son and they could hear her swearing regularly.
The mother, who has kept her identity hidden was prosecuted for abandoning her child and for not looking after his safety.
In the court hearing, they provided telephone data to show that she was not living with her son and that he took himself to school and continued to work on his grades. When she was investigated, she denied the accusations but the neighbors confirmed he was living on his own.
The boy’s mother was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and she will be wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet for six months. Now that the boy is in his teenage years, he said that she has only visited him once at his foster home but he doesn’t want any additional contact from her.