Last week, Fellowship staff attended the opening ceremony for the Back to Life Center at Sheba Medical Center, where Avi Shamriz spoke about his journey of loss, healing, and hope. The Back to Life Center is the latest Fellowship-funded initiative at Israel’s largest hospital, providing treatment and support for freed hostages, the families of victims, and others affected by the horrific attacks of October 7, 2023.
Avi’s son, Alon, was one of 19 people kidnapped when 250 terrorists infiltrated Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where the family lived. During the attack, 64 members of the kibbutz were murdered. Two months later, Alon and the two friends with whom he had been kidnapped made headlines. After 65 days in captivity, the three managed to escape and spent five days roaming Gaza, searching for rescue by the IDF. Tragically, they were killed during the Battle of Shuja’iyya.
Avi remembers, “He was free. He led two friends. He tried to bring them home safely. Our hearts were broken into pieces and our bodies refused to function. For a year, I was busy taking care of the community. Where the State wasn’t, I was – like that among friends. We raised money, we raised medicine, we raised food. When we fled the kibbutz, we fled with our uniforms on. I came today with those clothes so you can see that these are clothes that were donated to me. These are clothes that I received as a donation, because when I fled from there, I was without anything.”
In the year following the attacks, Avi devoted himself to rebuilding his community while grieving the loss of his son, often working until he had nothing left to give. Around that time, he met Back to Life Center Director Dr. Noya Shiloh and her team of mental health professionals. Even before the expanded center officially opened, they were already caring for many families traumatized by the events of October 7.
“You established an island of sanity here in a sea of chaos,” he says, “When I arrived here, the pain was not only in my soul, it simply paralyzed me. My body was paralyzed. Thanks to the diverse treatments I receive here – in hydrotherapy, reflexology, physiotherapy and a variety of health treatments – I found peace. The water of hydrotherapy holds my soul and my body when I no longer have the strength to stand. The healing science of reflexology and physiotherapy gives me back the ability to move. All of these are non-medical treatments, but ones that help the body and mind recover. You do sacred work, with unparalleled sensitivity and a smile that manages to penetrate even the heaviest walls of sadness.”
What is even more remarkable is that Avi did not stop serving his community after receiving help. If anything, the care he received strengthened his resolve to remain a pillar for his friends and neighbors. The IDF has also supported his efforts, sending nearly 1,000 soldiers to assist with daily tasks such as organizing funerals, distributing donated clothing, helping identify abductees, and much more.
Avi sends his deepest thanks and regard to The Fellowship’s donors who helped make this Return to Life Center expansion possible. “I ask you to look at me – I am the result of your donation. Without you, I am not sure I would be alive or here.”