PARIS – Adam Berdichevsky cried before his wheelchair tennis match at the Paralympics on Friday. He knew playing in front of fellow survivors from the kibbutz where he feared for his family's life would prove overwhelming.
Berdichevsky, his wife Hila and their three children hid in their home at Nir Yitzhak during Hamas' attack on Oct. 7 last year that ignited the war in Gaza. Berdichevsky and his family were later evacuated to Eilat and now live in Houston, Texas.
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Throughout Berdichevsky's match on Friday, a group of around 30 survivors from the Nir Yitzhak community held up Israeli flags, some with messages in Hebrew.
“I went before the match (to see them). I told myself it’s better to cry before than go into the match and see all of them, and then be emotional,” he explained. “I cried before, because if not I cry in the match.”
He beat Italian player Luca Arca 6-2, 7-5 in the first round, but slept less than one hour on Thursday night. All Berdichevsky could think about was the Israeli fans coming to see him.
“I just thought about giving them some good vibes and to win," the 40-year-old Berdichevsky said. "To win (and) some smiles.”
Berdichevsky was also cheered on by Hila and their children, aged 6, 9 and 10. The quartet sat by the side of the Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros, home to the French Open, and danced when the pop song “Freed from Desire” by Gala was played.
“Only good things,” Berdichevsky said. "To look at my kids, and give them a high five.”
Berdichevsky, a six-time national champion and three-time Paralympian, lost his left leg in a boating accident 17 years ago in Thailand. He was Israel’s flag bearer along with goalball player Lihi Ben David at Wednesday’s opening ceremony.
“Thanks to the boat I'm here (at the Paralympics). The boat, I see it as a good thing,” Berdichevsky said. “The other thing is not a good thing at all. Of course, all the time (it) runs through my head.”
The war in Gaza erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. In Nir Yitzhak the militants burned homes and killed at least five members of the kibbutz’s civilian security team. Several members of the kibbutz were taken hostage, two of whom were freed by the Israeli military in a rare rescue in February. Others died in captivity and their bodies remain in Gaza.
Israel responded to Hamas' attack with an offensive that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.
After what he went through on Oct. 7, Berdichevsky receives help from a sports psychologist.
“I talk to her about everything. I think it helps mentally because since then for me nothing is really important," Berdichevsky said. ”If I lose, I lose. If I win, I win. Before that, if I was losing a match, it took me one or two days to be okay."
The Israeli fans from Nir Yitzhak were — literally — right behind him when he clinched the victory with a neat backhand winner that fizzed past Arca.
After slipping on a prosthetic leg, Berdichevsky jogged over over to them, raising their nation's flag aloft.
“So it was special (with) my crowd from my kibbutz and from Israel," Berdichevsky said. "I’m very happy that I could give some good times."
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AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games