“He didn’t understand that the things he went through in Gaza affected him”

Last night (Monday) was laid to rest in the cemetery in Kiryat Shaul, the late Major General Santiago Ovadia, a lone soldier who fought in the Nahal patrol. He immigrated to Israel from Venezuela several years ago to enlist in combat service, and in recent years studied communications and worked for a courier company. The funeral took place With the participation of hundreds of Israelis who came to comfort his brother and his mother, who came from Spain.On October 7, Ovadia was called to the reserves, since then he served in the Gaza Strip for about six months in a row, after which he returned for another round of service. Last weekend he was found by his teammates and brother, lifeless in his home in Ramat Gan.

 

“In the second round for the reserves, we started to feel that his condition was deteriorating,” his brother Sebastian, who lives in Israel, tells the morning (Tuesday) tomako health. “Between the rounds he went on vacation and flew to the USA, in retrospect it was not a good idea, because he went sharply from a state of war to routine and reality. When he returned to Gaza, it was also very difficult for him physically.”

 

“He was a quiet person and didn’t really share what he was going through”

According to him, a few weeks after Santiago returned to the reserve in the Gaza Strip, he suffered from a poor physical condition, among other things he suffered a heat stroke, and even began to suffer from anxiety attacks. Following this, he was released to his home for vacation. ‘When he came out he told me he felt bad, he also looked physically broken. He was a quiet person and didn’t really share what he was going through.”

Sebastian adds that despite the difficulty, his brother wanted to continue serving and was a Zionist. “For his part, he thought that if he talked then he would be released from the reserves, and he wanted to continue to be there so he kept it inside. It seems that it was important to him to make me proud all the time, he knew that if he had told me I would have taken him out of the army myself.’

 

 

Last weekend, Santiago’s teammates called Sebastian. “They asked if I had heard from him and I told them we spoke two days ago. One of the guys said he was going there and asked me to come too. When we arrived we called the police and they broke down the door, then we found him. I called my mother who lives in Spain to tell her, it was an intense and difficult conversation, to say the least.’

He adds that “Santiago did not define himself by trauma. “He would make fun of the situation, sometimes this is also a way of managing the situation. He didn’t understand that what he saw and that the things he went through in Gaza affected him, he thought he was stronger than anything. Now he is resting, and that What is important.”

He notes that Santiago left no letter or note. ‘If he had thought about what he was going to do he would have wanted to leave something, but it’s as if he wasn’t there in those moments. He knew that for me he shouldn’t have left anything, because I know what he went through and I know he loved me.’

Now Sebastian wants to convey a message to those dealing with trauma and their families: “There is such a stigma among boys that whoever is a soldier in the army with a weapon is strong and fine, and people don’t want to ask about his mental state, but there is a story behind every human being, and sometimes it includes traumas, so always It’s important to ask, and not just ask, because I did it. You also have to do things yourself and not wait for someone to feel bad, it’s your responsibility to do something and those who don’t are ashamed, I’m ashamed. As a brother you have to be interested every minute and every day what is happening.’