Shai Shalou

Shai Shalou, z"l, from Ahuzat Barak, was murdered at the Nova nature party.

Shai, a father of 4, was known to many residents of Afula and the valleys, with a smile that was permanently plastered on his face.

Eilat, Shai's wife for 28 years, was there with him. She recalls: "At 6:23 Shai and I were in the bar area of the party. I remember holding a cup of coffee in my hand and heading towards the bar.

At 6:27 the rockets started, the music stopped and the police ordered to disperse People became anxious and I saw a number of young women crying. In those moments I was not worried and tried to calm them down. Shai and I got back in the car to drive home and then Shai received a call from a friend who told him that they were wounded by a shooting at a gas station in Kfar Gaza and that he had sent EMS because there were terrorists. It would have sounded illogical to us, we thought it was 2-3 terrorists and the event would be over.

Suddenly we see that wounded people who have been shot begin to arrive in the party's KPK area. A few minutes later, the terrorists already arrived at the party area and the situation started to escalate. The late Shai and Eilat were already in their car when they realized that the terrorists were flanking them from all directions.

Shai and I got into the car and started driving to the right until we ran into a traffic jam and did a U-turn. Shai directed the traffic and told the whole convoy not to drive to the right because there are terrorists. We continued driving and then they shouted to us that there are terrorists in the other direction as well. We heard gunshots all the time and we didn't know if it was the police fighting the terrorists . I started reading chapters of the Psalms to avoid disaster, I took off my high heels and put on sneakers in case I had to run. Just as I was putting on my shoes I heard people shouting: 'We are being shot at.'

I ran and didn't think of anything. I just wanted to run so I wouldn't get shot. Behind me I saw a lot of terrorists shooting and people falling. I heard Shay from behind shouting at me and a lot of terrorists behind him. I couldn't even stop to wait for him because I had to keep moving."

From the moment of the escape from the terrorists' shots, the late Shai and Eilat went their separate ways.

"I saw a car in the distance, I ran towards it and shouted: 'I have four children, they are shooting at my husband from behind, save me so that they will not be orphans. I got in the car and we drove towards the road. There were terrorists from all sides and it was impossible to drive the car into the fields. Around 8:20 they dropped me off on the road. We all got out of the car because the terrorists had already come in our direction. We landed in the place that was the peak of the fire area at that moment. There were a lot of terrorists on the road."

I didn't remember anything. Neither people's faces nor who was sitting next to me in the car. I was under terrible pressure. Then I somehow got on a vehicle that was used as a transport vehicle to the party. When I got on again they shouted to get down because there are terrorists and I started running On the road. Shai called me and told me to come back to the PAK because there are no terrorists there. I told him I couldn't cross the road, I was afraid of being murdered. While talking, he came to the place where I was and I hear him shout to me: 'Titi'. I told him: 'Shay, I'm running away'. I started running and while running I see dead young girls thrown on the side of the road. I shout at them: 'Please get up, they are shooting at us, save yourselves.' I still don't understand that they are actually no longer alive. I feel the gunshots and know that there are terrorists in large numbers, but it hasn't entered my mind that people are really dying.

I only heard gunshots. I knew I was going to die and I didn't know at what second it was going to come and from which direction. I didn't think I would get out of there alive. Suddenly I see another car that had more than 20 people, crammed on top of each other. I get up, close the door, and then the terrorists started spraying the vehicle in bunches. I opened the door, ran away, and when I looked back, I didn't understand how I got out of that vehicle unscathed. Everyone inside was murdered. God bless him I am under private supervision."

The road that Eilat crossed was just at the beginning and she continued to run away on foot to the fields.

"I went where my body led me. I saw people starting to hide in the bushes and I hid with four other people. We took cover in the bushes as much as possible. We were not allowed to make any noise because the terrorists were near the road. At some point, I saw a tank arrive. I was happy that the tank arrived and I thought we were saved, but "Within a few minutes, the terrorists disabled the tank and fired an RPG at it. I heard bursts of gunshots and screams of terrorists in Arabic. I understood what was happening even without seeing with my eyes. There was chaos and a mess that the human mind cannot digest."

The bushes were not a good hiding place and Eilat had to get out of them and continue to run. She came to a grapefruit orchard and hid there.

"The couple who was with me in the car hid in one of the trees and I hid to their left. I lay on my stomach with my hands on my head and was very scared. Then the couple who hid next to me and escaped told me that terrorists entered the orchard and shot at me. I saw the bullet casings, but only later did I realize that there was a terrorist above me. I don't know how I survived. I remember smelling gunpowder strongly in my face, but I must have passed out already. I had a miracle there."

After about five hours in which she hid in the orchard, the rescue forces arrived and took her with the other survivors to the Ofakim police station. There she was updated with a false report that her husband Shay was alive. "They had a list of the survivors from the party who were found alive and in it were my and Shai's names. Later it turned out that they had a confusion and all the missing people were listed as having survived. I was glad that my husband was alive. I was told that he was with someone named Nimrod. I tried to reach Shai, but he did not answer.

"I spoke to him at 8:24 a.m. while I was getting into the vehicle that was sprayed with gunshots. He was behind me and saw all of this. He probably thought I was dead. At 8:43 a.m. my daughter spoke to him and he told her that the connection with mother had been cut off and started crying. b - 9:09 a.m. He sent a message in the family's group: 'We are being shot at from every direction, take care children, contact with mother has been cut'. Then he no longer answered."