‘He Saved My Life’: Benjamin Hall Pays Heart-Wrenching Tribute to Fox Cameraman Who Died From Russian Bomb Blast That Nearly Killed Him
Pierre Zakrzewski/Fox News
Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall previewed an excerpt from his upcoming memoir in which he honored his two colleagues who died in the same Russian attack that left him critically wounded.
Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission To Make It Home will be publicly released on March 14, the one-year anniversary of the day when Hall, Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian news producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were struck by Russian artillery while covering the invasion of Ukraine. Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova died from the blast while Hall lost a foot, part of his leg, the use of one of his hands, and was blinded in one eye.
Hall spoke to People about how he watched Zakrzewski die after the explosion, and how he promised to carry on his and Kuvshynova’s legacies if he survived.
“I realized that for them, I have to live the most fulfilling life,” Hall said. “A life that helps everyone else. A life that makes the most of it in their names. Otherwise, I’m wasting it.”
People also included a portion of Saved where Hall recalled his struggle to live after the explosion, and the difficulties he has with reviewing Zakrzewski’s footage from before it happened.
From the book:
Sometimes I’d wonder why so much effort and energy was expended to rescue me. It was a message from Dave, one of the heroes who saved me, that provided me with an answer. “Pierre and Sasha’s deaths were tragic, but not meaningless,” Dave wrote. “In a conflict marked by propaganda, lies, corruption, and deception, they, with you, sought to bring to the light of truth the cause of right for history’s witness. The role of reporters and information in this war is parallel with the role of the warfighter. Truth is the first casualty of war, but it survives when good prevails.
Hall said Zakrzewski “pops back in my mind every single day.” He noted, “seeing Pierre with his bushy mustache and his goofy smile always makes me happy.” He also recalled touching memories about Zakrzewski while they covered the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, plus the time they had together before the attack outside of Kyiv.
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.
