Sderot Police Officer Recalls Heroic Rescue and Recovery After October 7
Senior Sergeant Major Rami Cohen recalled rescuing two young girls from a car during the October 7 massacre in Sderot, detailing his critical injuries and recovery.
Senior Sergeant Major Rami Cohen from the Sderot police station, who rescued two young girls from their parents' car during the October 7 massacre, spoke in an interview about the harrowing moments under heavy fire, his severe injury, and his road to recovery.
Recalling the fateful moments three years later, Cohen described coming across a horrific scene while on leave, unaware of what awaited him. "It is a difficult moment, a moment that required immense inner strength and heroism," he said. "You discover a situation where a woman is killed inside a car with a bullet to her head. You shout, 'Police, police, police, we have a dead woman here,' and then two little girls, aged three and five, pop up and ask: 'Are you from Israel? Are you from Israel?' This is something of immense magnitude, highly unusual, but we have privileges, they are privileges."
Surviving Combat and Severe Injury
Cohen explained how he managed to move forward after facing mortal danger. "This event continues if you are truly dedicated, and you are in a combat moment, with faith, and you are a public servant, and you have spiritual strength – that is how you can continue. You do not break, because you believe in the path, in the path of action, and from there inner strength grows, you do not fall. This is the fourth time I have encountered terrorists, but this time I was critically wounded. And even after the critical injury, we gather all our strength to, as they say, elevate the pride of the police, elevate the pride of the country, and not break."
"This is me, and as they say – the Almighty wants me to live. And I recount the miracles of the Almighty, that the people of Israel live," Cohen concluded.
The Battle at Sderot Station
Describing the first difficult days of the war and the fallen officers from the Sderot station, Cohen recounted arriving at the station while officially on a week of leave. He spotted the black SUV of the Suissa family parked outside, noticing the mother inside before the girls emerged. Moments later, fellow officers engaged in fierce gunfights with dozens of terrorists surrounding the station, during which Cohen sustained critical gunshot wounds from a sniper before crawling to safety.
