Ten years after Paris attack: Natacha’s night that never ended
For many survivors, the 13th of November 2015 never truly ended.
Tomorrow marks ten years since the night that changed France forever: the coordinated terror attacks across Paris that claimed 130 lives and wounded nearly 500 more.
Among survivors, Natacha Fantuz, 31 at the time. She had been out for a casual drink with a friend in the 10th arrondissement, unaware that in a matter of seconds, the city’s heartbeat would stop.
“I remember the sound first - sharp, metallic, and far too close,” she confesses. “People started screaming, running in every direction. I didn’t even think. I just knew something terrible was happening.”
As she sprinted toward her friend’s car, chaos unfolded around her. “There were people on the ground. Some wounded, some covered with tablecloths from the cafés. The terraces were overturned, the glass shattered. It felt like the end of the world.”
That night, she escaped. But escape did not mean freedom.
A Decade Later: The Noise That Never Fades
Ten years on, Natacha still flinches at the sound of fireworks. Crowds make her uneasy, sirens make her heart race. She has spent years in therapy, trying to silence the echoes of that November night.
“The trauma doesn’t just go away because time passes,” she says. “I’ve learned to live with it but it’s part of me now.”
Like many who lived through the attacks, she grapples with the same haunting question: why me?
“I think about it often. Why did I survive and others didn’t? It’s a kind of guilt that never leaves you. Every anniversary brings it all back. I still have nightmares where I’m being shot at, or my husband and daughter are taken hostage.”
Remembering, Without Reliving
Paris will commemorate the victims tomorrow. For Natacha, remembrance is not about ceremony, but resilience.
“I don’t go to memorials anymore,” she admits. “It’s too painful. But I always light a candle at home. For those who didn’t make it back that night.”