Julian QuatresousJulian Quatresous came to Malta to celebrate getting accepted onto a course to join the merchant navy but it was the sea that claimed his life.
He adored the sea. His home in Dieppe, on the Normandy coast of France, has kilometres of sand, interspersed with towering cliffs facing their counterparts on the other side of the English Channel.
He loved the idea of travelling the world and it was absolutely no surprise to his mother, Christine Lecomte, when he came up with a career that would bring those two things together: the merchant navy.
READ: Youth missing after group leapt off boat in St Julian's
The 19-year-old was a good student but took nothing for granted and worked hard to get in to the college. When he found out in July he had been accepted to the five-year course which would make him an officer, the whole family celebrated.
Mr Quatresous knew he had a long slog ahead and wanted to have an unforgettable holiday before he moved to Marseille. He worked for two whole months to save up money for an 11-day holiday in Malta.
He and six of his friends packed into an apartment in St Julian’s on August 8 and sent photos home showing they were having a great time.
Then tragedy struck.
The seven of them joined a boat party on the Fernandes on August 11 and, on the way back, just 300 metres from shore, for some reason, they jumped into the sea.
The winds were picking up – a Force 5 to 6 was forecast for Saturday – and the waves were getting higher. Six of them made it – some of them rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta – but Mr Quatresous disappeared.
READ: DNA tests confirm corpse is that of French teen
As soon as her son was reported missing, Ms Lecomte, who was in Spain at the time, flew to Malta along with her 16-year-old son Nathan and her sister.
I don’t yet know what happened that night. I am not ready to think about it
“I did not know much about the island but his friend had a girlfriend in Malta and so he and six close friends all came here,” Ms Lecomte told the Times of Malta, sipping a bitter lemon.
She gazed out at the sea from a quiet waterfront table in Sliema, her sister Isabelle shaking her head from time to time.
“I don’t yet know what happened that night. I am not ready to think about it,” she said, looking away briefly.
Two other men had also disappeared that same weekend off Fomm ir-Riħ and, like their families, Ms Lecomte refused to give up hope. But while the two men were found alive clinging to a cliff on Monday morning, it turned out that the sea that her son loved so much had claimed him for its own.
His corpse was found on Wednesday, over a kilometre away from the shore, and his identity was confirmed by DNA testing.
There was no more hope.
Ms Lecomte remained numb as the French Embassy organised the repatriation of his body and she will now go back to her home and his empty bedroom.
In September, she will think about how he should have started his course. On October 29, she will ‘celebrate’ his birthday.
“That is not Julian in the casket. That is just a body. I will remember his enormous smile. And how we always teased him that he looked like the perfect captain,” she said.