Doctor Yves Cotrel,

Uprightness, rigour, generosity, kindness, clairvoyance and sharing

You had two lives, so rich, both of them !

You created a wonderfull family, strenghtened by the values that you transmitted with your beloved wife Marie Lou,

And other families of heart, those of your patients, and those of the researchers, the Cortel family, whom we are proud to be: reaserchers from all venues who learned, thanks to you, how to dialogue beyond our different scientific cultures, how to mix our knowledge to progress together with this spirit of sharing you were so attached to.

With patience and tenacity, you built the path of pluridisciplinar research on etiopathology of scoliosis. This revolutionary instrumentation you had the genious of, with your loyal friend Jean Dubousset, you had the humility to work hard to make it outdated tomorrow, due to  early efficient less invasive treatments. For that, you created the Cotrel foundation, your foundation, to unveil the intimate mechanisms at the origin of this disease, in order to better tame it and neutralize it. Inspiring!

Let the sadness that joins us today  be moved in energy to continue the teamwork, with determination. You have seen the first results of this research, the promising progresses. This adventure continues, with you in our minds and our hearts. Clinicians, engineers, basic scientists, all researchers, we keep holding high the torch until we eradicate the effects of this terrible disease. We will perseverate all together, and all together we tell you Thank You, your work is immense, and it will live on.