Durban - The French government has offered its condolences to the family of a Durban-born member of the French Foreign Legion, who gave his life for eight of his fellow soldiers last week.
On Monday, Lorenzo Rodrigues’s alma mater, Durban High School, issued a statement on Facebook, saying the 23-year-old had died in “an act of bravery” on Friday.
Rodrigues matriculated in 2011 and joined the French Foreign Legion two years ago.
He was saving members of his unit who went overboard, during a rafting exercise, when he died.
“(He) sadly drowned while saving his corporal,” the school said.
In a press statement issued after the incident, the French government said an inquiry was under way to determine what exactly had happened and offered its sympathies to Rodrigues’s family.
In an emotional interview with East Coast Radio, his mother, Elaine Rodrigues, recalled how the mother of one of her son’s fellow soldiers had phoned her after the incident.
“(She) said ‘I wanted to thank you, Mrs Rodrigues, that your son saved my son’s life',” she told the radio station.
“And I was absolutely distraught and overcome with emotion thinking, ‘I understand that she wants to say thank you to me, but the timing couldn’t be worse’.”
Rodrigues was married and had a baby daughter.
His wife, Fiona, posted on Facebook: “When I look at our daughter I see you, my love of my life. Thank you for this gift, thank you for making me a mom.”
Rodrigues will receive a military funeral this week, in Marseilles.