So this is my story, the horror movie I lived through on Saturday, October 7, 2023.
How did it all start? I was the officer on duty over the weekend with just 13 soldiers on the Urim Southern District Base. Everything was quiet and peaceful as usual.
At 6:30 in the morning there were sirens and missiles so we ran straight to the Migunit [concrete doorless shelter] in the dormitories, in flip flops, pajamas and with a weapon. We waited there a bit and then started to hear rumors that terrorists had infiltrated, but we didn’t believe it. But then we started to hear shots being fired.
“As we ran, the terrorists started to run after us, shooting at us and I was shot in the leg.”
We decided that we wouldn't stay put in the Migunit and we ran to the Operations Room, the most protected area on the base. As we ran, the terrorists started to run after us, shooting at us and I was shot in the leg. I continued to run barefoot like a crazy person without looking back until I got to the Operations Room.
At first, those already inside wouldn’t open the door of the Operations Room for me because they had already closed it, and likely because they were also scared of the terrorists who were behind me. I had no choice but to go outside again and run to the back entrance of the Operations Room. Then, they opened the door for me there. When I got inside, we bandaged my leg with a shirt from one of the Operations Sergeants and we waited there to be rescued. Unfortunately, rescue was not anywhere on the horizon.
Then we started to hear the terrorists detonating explosives around the Operations Room as they attempted to get inside to us. For half an hour we heard shooting and grenades. All we could do was pray for the best. Door by door they got through until the only door left was the one that separated us from them. All this time we were hiding under a table, one on top of the other.
I started sending goodbye messages to all my loved ones.
They blew up the last door, came into the room, and shot a volley of bullets at us without pause, screaming. When they were done, they waited a little, spoke in Arabic, searched for documents, checked that we were dead and then left. Throughout this I was not sure if I was dead or alive, I felt dead, but I could still see and hear and feel. I waited for the final bullet that would hit me and kill me, but it never came.
“I am lying there bleeding between the bodies of my friends, when suddenly I feel someone breathing.”
I am lying there bleeding between the bodies of my friends, when suddenly I feel someone breathing. It was my friend Sahar. We waited there for 4 hours together until rescue arrived, during which time she took off her uniform to give me first aid. I began to touch my whole body to see where I was hit, how much I am bleeding, and how much time I have to live. I felt like I was dying.
Then after four hours of playing dead, while I was in so much pain but I couldn’t say a word, angels came to save me. They took me to Soroka hospital [in Be’er Sheva] and on the way I immediately asked to call my family and tell them that I was alive against all odds!!
At first, I was taken to the ER, then I was moved to Shaare Zedek [Medical Center in Jerusalem] where I had 2 operations. Then, after 2 weeks I was transferred to Tel Hashomer [in central Israel’s Ramat Gan] for rehabilitation.
I had been shot 12 times - bullets in my legs, my left hand and my shoulder. I thank God who watched over me and was with me in that room. I still can’t believe that I am here, that I am alive and that with the help of God I should get back to regain full function. It is simply a miracle.
Eden R.