Daughter of La Rochelle suicide boss in Facebook appeal

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Following the suicide death of her father, Fanny Gamelin has launched an appeal on the internet to help the former employees of his company, the La Rochelle boat builder Chantier Gamelin.

Joel Gamelin killed himself on 23 December, because of worries over his boat building business, which could no longer afford to pay the wages of the 120 employees for December.  The company, a specialist in aluminium boatbuilding, had run into trouble and had been unable to secure loans from the banks.  He left a message that said "Forgive me for not having been able to save the company."

"My father said 'I've never asked anything of anyone and the day I do, they shut the door on me'. It really hit him," Fanny Gamelin said.  On her Facebook appeal, now translated into several languages including Arabic, German and English, she said that if 200,000 people donated 1 euro each, all the wages would be given to the 120 families to get them through one more month.

Chantier Gamelin was formed in 1983 and established on the Port de commerce de La Pallice in La Rochelle.  The company built a range of vessels up to 50m long, including luxury yachts and public service transport boats.