AFP journalist Christina Assi was among six journalists struck in an Israeli shelling in October last year while reporting on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
ADVERTISEMENTPhotojournalist Christina Assi on Sunday carried the Olympic torch in Paris to honour journalists wounded and killed in the field.
She and five others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon last October.
The attack killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah. Assi was severely wounded and had part of her right leg amputated.
AFP videographer Dylan Collins, also wounded in the Israeli attack, pushed Assi's wheelchair as she carried the torch across the suburb of Vincennes Sunday. Their colleagues from the press agency and hundreds of spectators cheered them on.
“I wish Issam was here to see this. And I wish what happened today was not because we were struck by two rockets,” Assi told reporters, struggling to hold back her tears. “I wish I could have honoured journalists this way while walking and in my best health.”
About 10,000 people were chosen to carry the flame across France from the southern city port of Marseille, where it arrived on May 8, to the opening ceremony on July 26. Many are athletes.
Others were picked because they represent art, culture and gastronomy, volunteer for charities or are deeply involved in community life.
The watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 108 journalists have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October, the majority in the Gaza Strip.