AFP photographer Christina Assi, who was seriously injured reporting from Lebanon in October 2023, carried the Olympic flame on Sunday, accompanied by video journalist Dylan Collins, in tribute “to all the journalists, our colleagues and friends killed this year”, she explained.
“It’s incredible and heart-warming to see all these people applauding after we survived a targeted attack on journalists”, said the young Lebanese photojournalist in a wheelchair, after she and her American colleague Dylan Collins walked 200 meters through the streets of Vincennes.
“I hope that what we have done today pays tribute to all the journalists, our colleagues and friends who have been killed this year,” she added.
“I would have liked Issam (the Reuters journalist killed in the attack) and all the colleagues we have lost to have been here today to see this. And I wish it hadn’t taken such an attack to be able to represent journalists”, she said, with tears in her eyes
Around fifty AFP journalists were on hand on Sunday to cheer them on as they passed.
Christina Assi, 29, was the victim of shellfire on 13 October 2023, while she and six other colleagues were covering cross-border clashes between the Israeli army and armed groups in southern Lebanon.
The shell, fired by an Israeli tank according to an in-depth investigation by AFP, killed the Reuters journalist and injured the six other journalists present, including Christina, who has since had her right leg amputated.
Dylan Collins, 36, was also injured that day. He had already been injured earlier in the conflict in Ukraine.
The next step for Christina is to “concentrate on my rehabilitation, so that I can stand on my own two feet again: that’s how I’ll get justice”.
“It was extremely moving to see Christina and Dylan carrying the flame. Their courage in the face of unimaginable adversity is an eloquent expression of the Olympic spirit. Everyone at AFP is very proud of them,” said AFP news director Phil Chetwynd.
With AFP
