The Maccabi Haifa soccer team and several of its supporters donated a boat to Oren Almog on Sunday. Almog was one of three members of his family to survive a terrorist bombing in the Maxim restaurant in Haifa in 2003. His father, grandparents, cousin, and younger brother were killed in the attack, which took place when he was 10 years old, and he was left blind. Oren has since begun sailing boats, and recently won a medal in an international competition for blind sailboat racers held in Italy.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav spoke at the ceremony on Sunday, calling Oren Almog “a brilliant example of the triumph of the spirit.” Yahav expressed hope that Almog would continue his racing and eventually fulfill his goal of winning an Olympic medal.