Mathis is one of the 299 patients Le Scouarnec, a 74-year-old former surgeon and convicted paedophile, is accused of having sexually abused throughout his career.
Mathis died of a drugs overdose aged 24, but his grandparents Roland and Mauricette attended the opening of the surgeon’s trial on Monday on his behalf.
Roland said both he and his wife are still wracked with guilt that they did not immediately see the signs.
“We both have therapists,” he said.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t tell myself: ‘You missed something. You didn’t ask him the right questions at the right time.'”
Sitting in their home in western France before the trial, Roland held up two pictures: one of his grandson grinning aged 10 and another of the troubled young man he became.
On June 14, 2007, Roland Vinet accompanied 10-year-old Mathis and his father to hospital in the western town of Quimperle because he had been vomiting.
Le Scouarnec “seemed calm and agreeable,” the 78-year-old grandfather said.
“He said it wasn’t worth us sticking around. And if there was a problem, he would call. He put us at ease,” he added.
Mathis spent the night at the hospital under observation, while his father and grandfather went home.
‘Deeply scarred’
After Mathis was discharged, he said nothing about his stay in hospital, but his behaviour slowly started to change, his grandmother Mauricette said.
“He would have showers all the time,” she said.
