Comedian Jamel Debbouze Reflects on Life-Altering Train Accident from His Youth

"The only way for me to get past this accident is to tell myself that it doesn’t exist," the comedian confided in an interview with the website Konbini.

This accident occurred in January 1990, when Jamel Debbouze was 14 years old. According to his confidences, a train had hit him and one of his friends after they had tried to cross the tracks in the middle of the night. While his friend died on the spot, the comedian emerged with the loss of the use of his right arm.

But this did not prevent him from moving forward in life. On the contrary, his disability served as a lever. "The day I was told I would no longer be able to move my arm, I immediately asked the doctor if he could lend me his pen to write with my left hand [...]. It was an immediate reflex. Because... No time to waste," the comedian recalls.

Jamel Debbouze denied that he was hindered or diminished, or that he could not do like the others. For him, it was unthinkable not to achieve his goals, that is to say to live as he saw fit. "Live, make people laugh. Even before the accident, no one has ever been able to stop me from doing what I wanted to do," he said.