To work after the murder of his daughter

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Éric Boudreault, father of Daphne Loonie-Boudreault (in part), photographed while meeting with The Newspaper after the murder of her daughter in march 2017.

Amélie St-Yves

Tuesday, 6 February 2018 20:21

UPDATE
Tuesday, 6 February 2018 20:21

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THREE-RIVERS | Two fathers whose children have been victims of murder have managed to get back to work. They started by only one day per week, a measure encouraged by the Guide to return to work after a drama, which will be launched on Thursday.

Éric Boudreault, whose daughter Daphne was murdered in march 2017 to Mont-St-Hilaire, finished his first week of work complete, a month and a half after it started.

The hardest part for him is to iron twice a day to the place where he learned of the death of his daughter.

“I was on the freeway when my wife called me. I heard him yelling and saying that she had died. I saw her again this time a little every time I pass there, ” says the union representative.

Changing the ideas

Even if the return is going pretty well, it feels a lot of fatigue.

“We spend our days thinking about what happened and when it returns, you must learn to focus on something else. It is a lot of work, ” he says.

Memory problems, reduced performance, fatigue, and difficult emotions are only a few examples of symptoms that may last for years to workers who have suffered the murder or disappearance of a loved one.

The Association of families of persons assassinated or disappeared is launching this week a guide to assist employers and colleagues to reintegrate these people in the workplace.

Allow the gradual return and flexible working hours, assign the worker to the more simple tasks and even reorganize the workspace to avoid the flash-back can be avenues of solution.

Losing three children

Patrick Desautels, whose three children were killed by Sonia Blanchette in 2012, has sold his nursery nine months ago. For four years he was working only one day a week and was exhausted.

He is now a truck driver and started at the rate of eight hours per week. Change of air and having less responsibility has made him well.

He can now work 40 hours per week.