46-year-old man dies after his scooter collides with a deer

It was still night when, on June 30, at around 4:30 in the morning, Mickaël Heitz was riding an electric scooter along the cycle lane connecting Soultz-les-Bains with Molsheim, in France, a route he took every morning to go to work at his bakery.

His lifeless body was found near the animal’s carcass. Despite wearing a helmet, the force of the impact with the asphalt road surface killed him instantly. The emergency services were alerted by a driver who passed by the scene of the incident shortly afterwards. When they arrived, they could only confirm his death.

A baker much loved by his neighbours

He was the manager of Boulangerie-Pâtisserie Mickaël, a very well-known establishment in Molsheim. He was known for his early-morning hours, as he often opened at 5:30 in the morning to serve workers and neighbours who came to buy bread each day. On social media we can read the affection his customers and friends felt for him, expressing it in posts, such as the one by the local council, where the incident was reported: “It was always a pleasure to go and buy bread from him; he always had a kind word,” wrote one resident on the village’s Facebook page. Another customer recalled: “He got up before anyone else so that we could have freshly baked bread. It is a great loss.”