Since a Grad missile fired from Gaza hit her Beersheba home overnight Tuesday, Miri Tamano is having trouble recovering. Tamano and her three children are staying with friends, not far from the wreckage of her house. Early Wednesday, she was walking through the ruins, trying to assess the damage, stunned and crying.
"My heart hurts for her," says one of Tamano's sisters, Shalva Makonen.
"She's a special woman and mom. Good for her. We'll be with her every hour of every day," Makonen said.
Tamano, 39, is scheduled to move into a hotel with her children until the relevant authorities decide where they will live. Tamano recalled the dramatic moments of the attack: "We were sleeping, and at 3:40 a.m. I heard a [Color Red] siren. I was sure I was dreaming. We haven't had sirens in Beersheba for years. I needed to wake up quickly and I ran to get the kids into the bomb shelter."
Her children, ages 9, 10, and 12, were asleep upstairs. Tamano woke them up and rushed them into the house's bomb shelter, managing to shut the door just before the missile struck. Given the wreckage remaining of the second floor, one can only imagine what would have happened to the children if their mother had been less alert. Tamano's partner Moti said, "We heard the siren. Seconds after the children were in the shelter, the Grad hit the roof. Right above the children's beds. It was a miracle," he said.
Tamano says she is "afraid and shaking."
"We went through a terrible experience. It hurts that my children and I don't have a home, and every child is an entire universe in and of himself. Thank God, we weren't hurt, but the house is gone, the memories are gone. We had a home full of good things, and nothing's left. I'm saddest because my kids have nothing, not even beds or basic items. And from this tough place we need to think about rebuilding from the ground up, from the beginning," she said.
Tamano's family hasn't managed to salvage any of their belongings, not even clothing. They left in their pajamas. Shortly after the incident, the family put out a list of its most pressing needs to get through the next few days. The Israeli public rose to the challenge, with individuals, public institutions, and retail chains announcing that they would be donating money and household items to the family.
Attorney Ora Tamano, another one of Miri's sisters, said, "Thanks to her quick response, the children's lives were saved. She grabbed them and dragged them into the bomb shelter, and that's what gave them their lives. Neighbors who came by to see what happened shouted out to her that she was a hero, a lioness, and she just wanted to protect her children. She also found time to call me to make sure we were in the shelter. She sounded kind of hysterical and I said, 'Everything will be OK, the siren will be over soon and we'll go back to normal.' I ran to her house to see what happened and how she was doing with the children. When I arrived, I saw the scope of the disaster."
Ora said her sister is still "frightened, confused, can't take in what happened. She's a special mom and a woman of valor. What she did is an example for others. As a mom, she did the best thing possible. When I got here, we hugged and cried from joy and sadness."
Ruthie Chai, a neighbor, also described Tamano as a "hero."
"She's an amazing mom, a real hero. At the height of the stress and the confusion of those moments she jumped on [the children], took them and hustled them into the shelter."
"When I saw how badly the family's house had been damaged, I went in and saw the mom, defending her children with her life. She wouldn't leave them for a second, not until the first responders arrived. That's a hero mom," Chai said.
IDF Homefront Command Liaison Col. (res.) Gili Shenhar said that the bomb shelter saved the Tamano family.
"We're talking about a … [Grad] missile that carries about 20 kilograms [44 pounds] of explosives. The shelter didn't sustain any damage but the missile penetrated two floors of concrete and the ground-floor ceiling collapsed. When we operate according to instructions, we greatly reduce the chance of getting hurt, and that's really important," Shenhar emphasized.
