In this video, a Frenchman told reporters about his experience on Friday night during the Paris terrorist attacks at multiple sites throughout the city. The attacks took place at seven different locations, and this man’s tale reveals the level of chaos taking place at street level. Known only as Sylvestre, he speaks of how he stood outside the Stade de France where two suicide bombers detonated their explosives. He was ending a call when one terrorist’s bomb exploded a few yards away. Sylvestre’s cell phone, which was still next to his head, saved his life when a piece of shrapnel made impact.
If Sylvester had not been using his phone at the time of the blast, the piece of shrapnel likely would have killed him, but the phone protected his head in a miraculous display of sheer luck. We now know that ISIS has claimed responsibility for these attacks, and President Obama has pledged the United States’ help in any possible way. Yet we cannot forget about the people in this story, and Sylvester lends a human face to what is otherwise an incomprehensible act of violence.
(Via Daily Mail