Responsible Storytelling - Hadar Zak's Full Story - video Dailymotion

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00:00Hello everyone thank you for coming here tonight and it is my honor to tell my

00:06story to you. My name is Adar Zak and I am 25 years old from Kibbutz Kisufim

00:14located near Gaza. I am here to share my personal experience from October 7th, a

00:20day that profoundly altered my life. On that fateful day I was visiting a lot

00:29while my younger sister Tomo was at her workplace. At 6.30 a.m. the skies

00:36filled with rockets from Gaza Strip. Terrorists branched the security fence

00:41and started the attacks by motorcycles ATVs and even by air. When I heard what

00:50was going on I frantically tried everything I could do to contact my

00:54parents. It wasn't until almost 1 p.m. that I finally reached them. When my

01:01father's answered me he said there is a lot of gunshots outside and he reassured

01:06me that they're all in the safe room. After I burst into tears he passed the

01:11phone to my mother's who always knew how to talk to me and she called my fears. I

01:18asked where is my younger brother Sagi, the light of my life and she assured me

01:25they're all safe in the safe room. That was our final conversation. We found out

01:32later that they died not long after this phone call. They were shot. The house was

01:40utterly destroyed by the flames and the safe was completely filled with

01:45smoke giving them absolutely no chance of survival. I learned from my Kibbutz

01:52security officer that my father's body was found in the entrance in the safe

01:57room as he had been guarding the doors trying to protect everyone.

02:03Nearby my mother was holding Sagi and hugged him in the bed and my loyal dog

02:11Saka was next to my dad. They were also fully blacknessed by the smoke. I asked if I

02:20could retrieve any personal item from the house like photos albums or Sagi

02:25kerami creation but a security officer informed me that everything from our

02:31there was totally destroyed. Now me and my younger sister Tomer are all alone

02:41and coping is incredibly challenging. I remember my last conversation with my

02:48father. I shared with him once how my sister is driving me crazy. Yet again you

02:57know how sibling are always find something to argue about and my father

03:02will told me how many sister do you have and I will answer him just one and he

03:10says good so treat it like she's the only sister you have. Shortly after I had

03:16to provide DNA samples to the police because the only way to them to positive

03:22the identity of their bodies. The process was obnoxious and why almost

03:29every person who buried this family we were still awaiting for confirmation

03:35about my brother remains. It took us two weeks to bury them.

03:42October 7th changed everything about my life, my existence on this earth. The

03:54terrorist stole from me my father Itay. He was a hard-working man. He taught me

04:02the value of family since the day I was born. He only told me that there is a

04:09priority of his life is family, studies and then friends and I will teach my

04:17children the same way. My mother Eti, the prettiest woman on earth. No offense to

04:26my girlfriend but she was. She was the best mom ever. She take care of me and my

04:34siblings in the best possible way and my little brother Sagi who was only 14

04:42years old. He was the best part of my life and my favorite dancer ever. I miss

04:50them dearly every day. After the attack I was evacuated to the Dead Sea with the

04:58surviving members of my kibbutz. One family has been constant source of

05:04support for which I am deeply grateful. They first reached out when we are

05:10sitting Shiva in our family. In our connection at that level suppose grow

05:17even stronger when Ella Danon, the conduction of the orphan from the 7th

05:21of October invited me to take part in all the activities and the support

05:26groups that had offer. Meeting Ella surely been the most rewarding part of

05:36my experience with my one family. When we got together I can show I can share with

05:43her what is on my mind. The daily struggles, the intense loneliness, the

05:50dread of celebrate even a single holiday without my family. Every meeting

05:56with Ella and every phone call with her gave me the strength to trust her

06:02and one family and know I will always have someone by my side. When Ella

06:10invited me to the therapy ski trip to Andorra I felt extremely hesitated. I

06:18wasn't sure that I was ready to go anywhere or do anything fun like that

06:22and in any case I had never done ski before. But after everything they had

06:28already done for me I felt like giving it a try. In our group there were four

06:35five veterans surviving orphans and five new orphans from the October 7. All who

06:42lost both of their parents. On the drive to the ski we all share our stories

06:47and thought what will happen and expectation for the trip and for our

06:53future. On our first day skis I was placed in the beginner groups with an

07:00Australian ski instructor. After the first few hours skiing we all met up and

07:06not only share a ski experiments with one another but also continue to give

07:11each other support. The strong decision of the older survived to support the

07:17younger strongly invented and it was my favorite things about the trip and in

07:23one family that the older take care of the younger even in grave. Just like one

07:32family event in Israel the group convinced led by Ella every evening on

07:37the ski trip gave me the strength to keep improving my skiing and I even move

07:42up to the advanced group. I no longer felt so alone. Somebody was

07:50really listening to me. The careful planning and the smooth running on the

07:54trip and the constant support from the staff all helped me focus on healing and

08:01skiing without being distracted by everyone going around me. It feel like

08:08skiing become a metaphor for my life these days. With every physical

08:13difficulty and emotional in a couple mission representing the emotional side

08:19of my life in a way. Every time I fell on the ski slopes I got up again and it

08:26filled me a little bit stronger and it taught me a lot. Later I chose to visit

08:32friends in Thailand so not to be because I didn't want to be in Israel for

08:37Passover and experience the holiday without my parents and my dear baby

08:41brother. This was definitely the right decision for me and I stayed in Thailand

08:47for two months which helped me a lot in the recovery. Even while I was there the

08:55conversation with Ella continued and at one point Ella invited me to join to one

09:00family trip to Mexico along with other orphans. In this occasion I couldn't make

09:06to the trip as it was just too far but it made me incredibly happy just to be

09:12invited to know that I was part of the family and I always will be included. As

09:21we transition to a temporary house in Omer, me and my sister Tomer, we are

09:28finding a way to adjust knowing that one family will continue to be there for us.

09:33From the ski trip in Andorra to all of the wonderful support groups and events

09:39and even the Mishloach Manot that Ella gave me at Purim. The support of one

09:44family is helping me through this tragedy and find a way to live and enjoy

09:49life with the family that I now have. I want to express my heart's thanks to the

09:56one family organization and to Ella personally for everything they done to

10:01help us during these difficult times. Me and my sister Tomer really appreciate

10:06that and I appreciate you all and thank you for listening.

Responsible Storytelling - Hadar Zak's Full Story

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