A brave French nine-year-old boy was left to fend for himself for two years after his mother completely abandoned him for years, bringing himself to school and, at times, living without heat or electricity. He survived in complete solitude for two years at his mother’s apartment in Nersac, a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. For now, his identity has remained hidden from the public.

The young boy survived all by himself from the age of 9 to 11, between 2020 and 2022, without a single adult noticing his horrific situation. According to the local French outlet Charente Libre, “nobody noticed anything,” even the school, where the boy was reported as being a good pupil.

The abandoned kid’s neighbors didn’t notice that he had been left by himself, even though they would sometimes bring him food. Local news reported that the lonesome boy would mostly feed himself with cake and cold canned food.

The resilient boy would also reportedly fetch tomatoes from the balcony of a neighbor in his building. Nevertheless, he also spent extended periods without heat or electricity and had been forced to sleep with three duvets. Sometimes, he would even have to wash himself with cold water.