Although slowed by age and illness, “street carer” Gilles Kègle will stop at nothing to continue the work he vowed to continue until his death: supporting the less fortunate and the sick.
“My religion is love and my church is the street,” says the 81-year-old in an interview with Le Journal.
This is a rare interview granted to the media for several months for the man nicknamed “the street nurse.” With his tongue charred by the cancer he survived and his face becoming sagging over the years, Mr. Kègle no longer feels comfortable speaking in public.
However, that doesn't stop him from working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to help his approximately 200 beneficiaries by accompanying them in their final days or bringing them food.
Mr Kègle says he still works 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Photo Stevens LeBlanc
“I have pain everywhere, I feel very bad. But it does not matter. I have no interests other than my patients. They are the ones who keep me alive,” explains the man behind the foundation that bears his name, founded 40 years ago.
In November 2019, Gilles Kègle was among the personalities who received the Medal of Honor from the National Assembly. He poses with other winners: comedian Boucar Diouf, Pénélope Guay, co-founder of Missinak Community House, and chef Colombe St-Pierre. Archive photo, QMI Agency
Recognized by everyone
The journal accompanied the philanthropist on one of his daily tours to those most in need in the Old Capital.
A task that is not easy for the man since he is sometimes interrupted by a nurse who recognizes him, sometimes by a beggar who asks him what will happen to his body when he dies.
“He is always there when I need help and he listens to me. He never imposes himself,” says Nelson, a homeless man he met on the road and whom Mr. Kègle has been caring for for almost eight years.
Nelson is a homeless man from Quebec whom Mr. Kègle cared for for eight years. Photo Stevens LeBlanc
What follows is a visit to a long-time beneficiary who was recently in the hospital to bring him a radio on which he can listen to a Remparts game. Then he becomes worried when he gets no response from another “customer” who knocks on his apartment door.
“I found dozens of people dead in their homes. We never get used to it, but we have no choice but to get over it quickly,” he emphasizes.
A “failed” life?
But despite all the good he has brought to people in need for decades, Gilles Kègle believes he has “failed his life”. Her biggest regret is that she never had children.
“I always wanted to have ten children. If I had to change just one thing, it would be this,” he says.
Last May, on the occasion of the collective funeral of 42 destitute people who died in loneliness, the Gilles Kègle Foundation celebrated the funeral of the 1,000th deceased whose death was covered by its organization. Photo Catherine Bouchard
Nevertheless, he managed to find happiness in helping his neighbor, says the man who wants to support his patients for “at least 20 years.”
“I had a good plan B!” says the octogenarian with a laugh and handwrites a word in one of the around 150 invitation letters for his traditional Christmas dinner.
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