Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

One of Israel’s flag bearers in the Paralympics is a survivor of Oct. 7

Berdichevsky, the No. 41 ranked men’s wheelchair tennis player in the world, hid with his family for 14 hours as Hamas attacked their kibbutz on Oct. 7

(JTA) — Israeli wheelchair tennis player Adam Berdichevsky lost his leg in a boating accident in 2007, and has since won six national championships in his sport and competed in two Paralympic Games.

Now, he is heading into his third Paralympics after facing adversity of a far different kind. On Oct. 7, he and his family hid for 14 hours in their home at Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on the Gaza border while Hamas terrorists attacked the community, killing their neighbors and taking five people hostage.

Berdichevsky, 41, was rescued, and his family was evacuated to Eilat. Next week, he will serve as a flag bearer for Israel’s delegation, which includes 28 athletes. He says he feels a newfound purpose after surviving the Oct. 7 attack.

“This year has been, and still is, unbearable,” he said in a statement. Describing what motivated him to compete in the Paralympics despite the challenges he faced this year, he cited “the strong desire to represent the country during these times, and the support from my family.”

He added, “I hope the rest of the hostages will return, which is the most important thing.”

Berdichevsky is currently ranked No. 41 in men’s wheelchair tennis by the International Tennis Federation, and reached his career-best ranking of No. 20 in October 2019. He has represented Israel at six World Championships and has won 21 singles titles in international tournaments and 13 in doubles, according to the Israel Paralympic Committee.

Berdichevsky will serve as a flag bearer alongside Israeli goalball player Lihi Ben David, who competed at the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics.

“This is a huge honor for me,” Berdichevsky said, according to the Times of Israel. “It shows appreciation for all the hard work I did over the past six months after everything my family and I went through. I’m happy that I can represent the Gaza border area after the horrible massacre, as well as the State of Israel, and march at the head of the delegation with the flag of Israel.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.