Omer Ohana
“On the morning of October 7th, we woke up and heard the horrible news from the south. Sagi jumped out of our bed, and in a few minutes, we were already at the door saying goodbye. He kissed me on the lips and assured me that he would return home soon. He told me not to worry, in two weeks we are getting married. I made a deal with Sagi that every hour we would send each other a heart emoji so I would know he was safe.
When the hearts stopped coming, I knew something bad had happened. I turned to our wedding guest list and started reaching out to all of his friends from the army hoping I would be able to get any information about why Sagi was not answering me.
I was hoping he was just busy, or injured.
When the officers knocked on my door, they didn’t say anything – I already knew.
Sagi was killed in battle while fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri. He was there to protect and evacuate innocent civilians from one of the deadliest attacks of the murderous rampage of October 7th.
We were supposed to get married a week later. Instead, I had to turn to the wedding guest list again, I wrote to friends and family that instead of a wedding we were forced to hold a funeral. The flowers we prepared for the table arrangements were are now placed on his grave.
One of Sagi’s teammates told me that Sagi rescued a father who was carrying a baby in his arms. The father sobbed and Sgai hugged him. Sagi loved children so much, the thought that hurts me the most is that the last thing Sagi saw was how the terrorists treated the innocent children, how they murdered babies and their parents.
Sagi was a wonderful human being who volunteered on so many platforms all around the world. As a graduate of philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) studies, he accompanied families in need on the way to economic improvement and volunteered with children in need. He was a champion of equality but with his death, I have experienced inequality.
Sagi was a proud officer, he was never ashamed of his identity. On the other hand, it was not easy for the army to accept the fact that I am a bereaved spouse. Thanks to honest politicians and with the support of the Israeli public, we were able to quickly pass an amendment to the law in parliament that gives full equality to the spouses of LGBTQ or any other common-law spouses of fallen soldiers.
There is nothing I am prouder of than being Sagi’s partner. I know that his light, that the pursuit of justice and equality will continue to illuminate the world. We are now recognized in death. Now we must continue the fight to be recognized in life too.”