This week, Hani Abu-Rish, the deputy commander of Ofer Prison, drowned in an attempt to save his daughter’s life. Geula Even Saar, met for the first interview her daughter Dima, who now promises to fulfill her father’s wish for her future, and Honey’s widow, who asked him to take care of himself, just before he ran to the sea.
“I wanted to swim, I went in and suddenly the waves became stronger,” Dima says of that tragic day at sea. “And the water started to take me very far. I tried to swim but got very tired, I couldn’t do anything. But when I opened my eyes I just saw I was underwater. I saw Dad running to me, he wanted to save me.” Dima adds that the moment she saw her father in the abyss she felt confident: “I tried to swim once more and remembered all my moments with him.”
Dima continued to recreate: “No one could help him. I got out of the water, looked back and saw my dad drowning and asking for help. I wanted to go help him as he helped me, but I could not, I was very tired.” She added: “He is my hero. I am most proud of him. He is a perfect father, gave his life to save me.” Nariman Abu Rish, Honey’s widow, says she told him before he went in to take care of himself, he replied: “I am a sailor and do not be afraid of me.” She added that his son Adam is celebrating a birthday without his father: “He told me ‘I want to hear good luck from Dad’.”
Imad Abu Rish, Nariman’s father, added of Hani: “He has completed his doctorate and has another two-three-month ceremony to award a doctorate. Yesterday cannot be changed, but we are looking forward to Dima becoming another doctor.” Dima added: “I want to be a doctor. He always told me ‘your doctor’.”