Mrs. Mazuz, who resides in Ashkelon, is paralyzed and uses a motorized wheelchair. When the war began, she stayed in Sderot city with her daughter.
On Saturday morning she was alone with her husband, at the apartment. When they heard the sirens go on, they went to the residential secure space (MMD)
40 minutes after the sirens started, they heard non-stop gunfire outside their building, and a constant pressing of the intercom button began. They heard shouts in Hebrew outside but in an Arabic accent shouting “Police, Police, open the door”. Both Ada and her husband were in great anxiety, as they realized that terrorists were trying to break into their home. Ada was in a panic. They realized those were terrorists outside there, and managed to lock down the Safe Room. Ada noted that the terrorists murdered their neighbor and broke into the houses of 2 families next to them, and murdered them as well. She realized that it was a matter of seconds that something terrible could happen to them if they left the Safe Room, which is why, Ada sat in her wheelchair and did not leave the Safe Room for about 36 hours in a row. She didn’t go to the toilet, she had to urinate on herself, and only on Sunday at noon both Ada and her husband were evacuated. Ada said that the great fear did not allow her to leave the Safe room, to eat or drink, she remained silent, and was filled with severe anxiety. During the whole day she was in contact with the CEO of -Access Israel- Michal Rimon, who asked to be updated on her well-being, the ways she could be helped, and any chance of their evacuation. Michal informed her that she had found a place for them to stay at Kibbutz Dalia and even asked when she could leave Sderot. However, according to Ada, the army did not allow them to leave the house, because there were still terrorists around.
On Sunday at 3:30 pm, she turned to her daughter, cried and begged her to help them leave Sderot as again, there were shots and terrorists around their house. She begged that the army or the police would come to evacuate them, and to make sure to escort them to the car, so that she could escape from Sderot.
On Saturday at 08:10 pm Michal, the CEO of Access Israel, called to ask how she was doing, whether she was safe and how she could help. Even on the day after, Michal did not stop calling and demanding their well-being and could they be evacuated, and let her know that they had found a place that was kept for her until it was possible to evacuate Ada and her husband. Michal kept asking Ada whether they needed anything, any help with the evacuation and asked to be informed when they leave Sderot.
Ada stated that the treatment was consistent – intensive throughout the whole day and during the following day she noted that this was not the first time that Michal has helped her. Every time there is a siren in Sderot, 10 minutes later, Michal texts her and asks how she is doing and whether she needs help/rescue. “Ada, are you okay? Ada, do you need help? Do you want to go out or get somewhere? And I always know that the first phone call I will get is from my dear Michal, I’m aware of that and it’s been like this for years” (a quote from what Ada said)
Finally, she was evacuated to Kibbutz Dalia, she was provided with an accessible B&B. The next morning, a representative from Access Israel contacted her and asked whether the B&B was accessible, whether she needed anything else, whether there was any problem, and whether she could be independent inside the B&B and noted that in any case of a problem Access Israel would take care of moving Ada to another place.
According to Ada “The B&B was excellent, it gave her a breathing space after what she went through and experienced, she could sit outside for a bit and get some air from all the atrocities she saw.”
Quote by Ada: “After that, Michal transferred us to another hotel, took care of all our needs, both in meals and in an accessible room, Michal made sure to bring us vouchers for the Landwer Caffe, and volunteers who came to the hotel almost every day and took care of our well-being, brought us fruits, snacks, meals, hygiene products, they took me to a place that provided clothing“. (since she left the house leaving everything behind with stress and rush to evacuate)
“Throughout the entire stay at the hotel, they accompanied us non-stop. And also when I arrived at the hotel people from Access Israel were waiting for me, they showed me the room, sat with me for a while, and asked if I needed anything else?”