|
May 28, 2007
A man of courage
SHELLY PAZ and REBECCA ANNA STOIL
Oshri Oz, a 36-year-old Hod Hasharon resident, was killed on Sunday morning when a Kassam rocket landed near his car in Sderot. Oz was the 10th Israeli to be killed in rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip.
The Kassam that ended Oz’s life landed 30 centimeters from his vehicle, spraying him with shrapnel and fatally wounding him. Oz then lost control of the car and crashed into a wall.
With severe injuries to his chest and neck, Oz managed to get out of the car and take a few steps before collapsing on the road. Within a minute of the attack, Magen David Adom paramedics arrived to evacuate Oz to Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center, where he died.
Oz, a computer technician, traveled to Sderot several times a week as part of his work for the Peretz Bonei HaNegev company. Oz’s friends said Sunday that even when the number of Kassam attacks rose, he kept working in the town, showing no fear.
He was "a man of courage," one said, noting that his name, Oz, means strength in Hebrew.
"He would go to Sderot all the time to fix the company’s computers,‘ another said. ’He was not afraid to go there and never expressed any apprehension."
Oz is survived by his wife, who is six months pregnant, and his three-year-old daughter. Upon being informed of her husband’s death, his wife collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where she was kept for observation.
During his military service, Oz served as a coordinator for overseas volunteers.
Another person was lightly wounded in the attack. Several people were treated for shock.
"I heard the Color Red siren and then the whistle over my head. The Kassam’s explosion shook the entire house. I went out to see what had happened and saw a man lying on the road," said Riki Ben-David, who lives near the scene of the attack.
"Fortunately, I sent two of my children out of town. Only my older son, Eran, was at home when the Kassam fell next to our home. The house’s windows were broken, but thank God, nothing more than that," said Aviva, who lives next to where the rocket landed.
In Memoriam
------------------------------
Back to Timeline »
|
