Photo: Pierre Zakrzewski/Fox News
War correspondentBenjamin Hallhas spent the past 12 months since he was wounded in Ukraine learning to approach life with gratitude, knowing that the same attack he miraculously survived killed four others — including his dear friend and mentor, Fox News cameramanPierre Zakrzewski.
Along with 24-year-old Ukrainian journalistSasha Kuvshynova, who served as their translator and guide, the news crew piled into the back of a small red vehicle and let a couple of soldiers up front do the navigating.
Benjamin Hall reports from Horenka, Ukraine, on the day of the bombing. Pierre Zakrzewski filmed.Pierre Zakrzewski/Fox News
The shoot went well and on the drive back to Kyiv, Hall found himself starting to plan how he’d turn the footage into a compelling package for his newscast. Then a series of missiles struck down on their vehicle, and everything went dark.
When Hall snapped to after the blasts and crawled out of the vehicle — at that point realizing he was missing a leg — he didn’t see Kuvshynova or the soldiers. But he found Zakrzewski, still conscious and lying flat on the roadside about 15 feet away. The cameraman’s final breaths were spent warning Hall to stay still and not call attention to Russian drones.
In those hazy moments that Hall awaited rescue on the deserted highway, he recalls deciding that if he ever made it home safe, he would use his actions to carry on the legacies of Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova. “I realized that for them, I have to live the most fulfilling life. A life that helps everyone else. A life that makes the most of it in their names,” Hall says. “Otherwise, I’m wasting it.”
Below, Hall’s salute to Zakrzewski, who died that day at the age of 55, excerpted fromSaved:
I think a lot about the attack, and about Pierre and Sasha. Sometimes I replay the whole scene in my head. I imagine I’m back in that village, sitting on the ground, hurt, bleeding, trying to live, and in that instant, I suddenly realize that anything in life is possible — that wecanget up when we get knocked down, and push forward and not be afraid.
What I don’t like doing, however, is watching the footage Pierre shot leading up to the moment of the attack. I find it too hard to watch, and it brings the attack much closer to home than I like. The journalist in me should want to analyze the footage for any clues it might offer to what happened that day and investigate precisely who was responsible for the bombing and what weapons were used, something which is not yet clear — but that’s still hard at the moment. The memories will come, and I will deal with them, but I don’t need to make them any more vivid.
My friend Pierre pops back in my mind every single day. Sometimes it is the Pierre who was lying on the ground beside me, and when that happens, I work hard to summon the living Pierre. When I see photos of us together, I laugh and remember what he was like. Seeing Pierre with his bushy mustache and his goofy smile always makes me happy.
Pierre Zakrzewski and Benjamin Hall in Afghanistan, December 2020.Pierre Zakrzewski/Fox News
I remember being with Pierre in Afghanistan early in 2021, on the outskirts of Kabul. We’d been hearing the Taliban wouldn’t enter the city, but we could see with our own eyes that they’d already gone in. So we had to report that the intelligence was wrong and the Taliban were already there. The precious little downtime we had in Afghanistan was the best. Pierre absolutely loved the terrain, and he loved the different tribes and people.
So much goodness and beauty, we thought,and soon it will be gone.
Pierre Zakrzewski and Benjamin Hall ride horses in Afghanistan.Instagram
When I am alone, I think about Pierre, and I believe with all my heart that he laid down his life to save me. I was in the back of the red car, in the middle seat — the death seat. I should have been the first person killed in the attack. Yet somehow I was the one who made it out alive. How? Why? Pierre jumped out of the car first, clearing the way for me to narrowly escape. He tried to protect me to the very end, warning me about the Russians, looking out for me. He was brave and selfless to his last breath. That day, he saved my life.
But every day that I knew him, he made me a better human. He taught me how to find the beauty in the ugliest places, as well as the goodness amid the worst of humanity. He fought even harder to make people’s lives better than those who fought to destroy life. I think about Pierre every day and I hope he is still riding tall in his saddle, somewhere on a beautiful, untouched mountain.
For more on Benjamin Hall’s new outlook on life,subscribe now to PEOPLEor pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.Hall’s memoir,Saved, reaches bookshelves on March 14, the first anniversary of his attack.
source: people.com
