Véronique Trudeau was going to lay her brief; There was no doubt in his mind. Her goal was clear: despite a fight against cancer and a cerebral paralysis that affected her since childhood, she would win her mastery.
She had spent the last decade going to the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) by herself, in a wheelchair, to make a baccalaureate and then a master’s degree in journalism. Achievement of colorectal cancer of stadium 4, she would still continue to do her research and write her brief, at all costs.
“She loved her life, even if she was disabled. She was proud of her studies. In her head, she was preparing to write articles, ”says Véronique Trudeau’s mother Micheline Ricard.
Photo Hugo-Sébastien Aubert, the press
Jean-Guy Trudeau and Micheline Ricard, parents of Véronique Trudeau
Carried away by the disease in September, Véronique could not attend her snack of grades and parade with her peers on June 7, even if she was still hoping to do so until her last days. But her mastery, she will have obtained it – a first for a woman with disabilities in journalism. Her thesis, she will have deposited him, about a month before her departure.
And her memory will now live through a new scholarship program that will bear her name, and of which she was very proud.
A life to three
Premature baby, Véronique Trudeau weighs only 2 pounds and 6 ounces when she comes to the world, on January 9, 1972. These are neonatal complications that cause her cerebral paralysis.
Photo provided by Véronique Trudeau’s family
The young Véronique, her legs in plaster after operations, with her brother, in the mid -1970s
“We, from the birth of Véronique, we no longer had a couple life: we had a life for three,” said his father, Jean-Guy Trudeau, laughing. If accompanying a child with cerebral paralysis is difficult and taking, the attitude of the young Véronique makes the task much easier for her parents.
She never complained about her handicap. Never.
Micheline Ricard, mother of Véronique Trudeau
“His handicap occurred in the neonatal period. She has not known something else, ”adds her father. “When she had an idea in mind, there was not much to stop her. »»
Photo provided by Véronique Trudeau’s family
The young Véronique Trudeau at the Aapted Papillon holiday camp, in Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez
Brilliant and passionate
“Véronique was a super bright person,” recalls her friend Dave Richer, now an actor, also suffering from cerebral paralysis. The two met in specialized primary school Victor-Doré and had kept in touch since. “This is probably one of the most determined people I have known,” he says.
Discreet but passionate about journalism and communications, she began a baccalaureate in this area in the early 2010s, at UQAM.
“She was comfortable with words, with the French language. She wrote very well, easily, without spelling mistakes, ”says her father. She also signed some texts in the mail of readers of The pressfrom 2012, mostly relating to disability1.
Photo provided by Jean-Hugues Roy
Véronique Trudeau and colleagues from the baccalaureate in journalism from UQAM, in the summer of 2015
“Véronique Trudeau was one of the most endearing students I have been given to meet,” wrote the former UQAM professor Jean-Hugues Roy-today Data Journalist at The press – In a Facebook publication, a few days after his death.
She did her tank in a chair – that I had dismantled one morning, because she had been surprised by a violent downpour and he no longer worked!
Jean-Hugues Roy, former professor of journalism at UQAM
Once her bac in hand, Véronique Trudeau begins her master’s degree in 2016; It is Jean-Hugues Roy who accompanies him as director of memory. The subject: native advertising in Quebec media.
“Until the end”
In September 2023, in full writing of her memory, Véronique Trudeau received a diagnosis of colorectal cancer from stadium 4. She was therefore taken care of by the department of oncology of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.
If the disease and the treatments slow it down in its writing, they certainly do not slow it down. Véronique holds a bite: she will conclude her mastery. She therefore continues her university approach, while cancer progresses.
She moves to her computer daily to continue her memory, although she cannot spend more than two hours a day writing, since she is too weak.
In August 2024, his brief, given some time earlier, was accepted by the jury.2
At that moment, Véronique knows that she has little time left to live – she even asks for medical aid to die, before changing her mind.
But to finish her mastery “was her goal and a great pride for her,” said her mother. “She did this on her own. It was her way and she was faithful to her goal until the end. »»
Photo Hugo-Sébastien Aubert, the press
In the Salon des Trudeau-Ricard is a small memorial, where the master’s degree in Véronique proudly sits.
Véronique Trudeau died a few weeks later, on September 14, 2024, after having fulfilled her dream. It was Jean-Hugues Roy himself who went to tell him, in his hospital room, that his master’s degree, she finally obtained it.
“She remained courageous until the end. His death capsizes me, “he wrote in a Facebook publication on September 26.
An inspiration for his peers
UQAM has decided to pay tribute to its extraordinary graduate with the creation of Véronique-Trudeau scholarships, intended for communication students living with a physical handicap; An idea of the dean of the Communication Faculty, Gaby Hsab.
“Véronique left us last September, but her courage, her strength of character and her determination touched us and inspired us [à] create [ces] scholarships, ”explained Mr. Hsab, during the collation ceremony of the grades of June 7. An announcement that caused a spontaneous standing ovation and several cheeks wet in the Pierre-Mercure room.
Five scholarships of $ 1,500 each, with three study cycles, will be granted as of the next school year.
Photo provided by services to the graduate community of UQAM
Gaby Hsab, Jean-Hugues Roy, Micheline Ricard and the Rector of UQAM, Stéphane Pallage, June 7
“She has 1000 times more courage than I have never had. […] He’s someone who I miss a lot, ”says Jean-Hugues Roy, present at the ceremony to honor his student.
“It will always remain my best model, my inspiration,” concludes his mother. I’m going to talk to her until the end of my days. »»
1. Read “the triumph of the disabled”, one of the letters of Véronique Trudeau
2. Read the memory “native advertising: the new borders of journalism. The case of David Desjardins ”, by Véronique Trudeau
