Tag: Survivor

Eagles invite survivor of Bourbon Street attack back to New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX: ‘Not letting evil win’

Former Princeton football player Ryan Quigley was seriously injured and lost his best friend and fellow teammate, Tiger Bech, in the violent terrorist attack in New Orleans on January 1. But Quigley will have the opportunity to write that tragic story when he returns next weekend as an honorary guest of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles invited Quigley and Bech’s sister to attend their divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams last month, but this week they invited him to their training facility with the intention of surprising him with Super Bowl LIX tickets.

FILE – Princeton running back Ryan Quigley (25) carries the ball for a touchdown in the second half during the game between the Columbia Lions and Princeton Tigers on October, 5, 2019 at Princeton Stadium in Princeton, NJ. (Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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“We want to tell you the real reason we brought you here,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said in a video shared by the team. “It’s okay if you’re not feeling it, but we would love to have you down for the Super Bowl.”

This year’s Super Bowl will be hosted by the city of New Orleans. It will take place just a little over a month after the attack. Quigley will return to the city, something he vowed never to do again.

“New Year’s Eve was my first time in New Orleans ever, it was my first night, and I told myself it was going to be the last,” he told the team’s website. “But then I thought about it, because all year I’ve been telling Tiger if the Eagles make the Super Bowl this year, I promised him I was going to take him, and he’s from Louisiana.”

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“I think, not letting evil win and evil will not prevail. I think we’re going to go back to New Orleans and leave on a positive note from that city, given that Tiger’s from there and that I promised him I was going bring him down to the Super Bowl. I’m looking forward to it for sure.”

Quigley, 26, suffered broken bones in his leg, back and face and underwent surgery and several days in the hospital to recover from a horrific terror attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.

FILE – Princeton’s Ryan Quigley (25) in runway before a game vs. Yale at Powers Field. Princeton, NJ on Nov. 16, 2019. (Erick W. Rasco /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)

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He hopes that his presence will allow him to share Bech’s story, something he plans to continue doing no, matter where he goes.

“Everything that the Eagles have done from being around the facilities today and the Divisional Round, to helping us share his story, there’s no words to describe it. We’re forever grateful to have the opportunity to tell the rest of the world how special Tiger was.”

“Everyone that I meet moving forward, I want to introduce Tiger as well, because of how special he was and how much character he had,” he added.

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Super Bowl LIX will be streamed on Tubi. (Tubi)

“He had no problem going to like anywhere in the world and fitting into different cultures. And he was just a super well-rounded individual with a ton of qualities that I’m going to make sure people know about for the rest of my life.”

The Eagles and Chiefs will meet in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

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February 1, 2025
Survivor of Nova music festival Hamas terror attack wins slot to represent Israel at Eurovision

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A survivor of the Nova music festival terrorist attack by Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, has channeled her therapeutic journey through music and on Thursday secured the slot to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland.

Yuval Raphael, 24, reportedly began singing as a way to cope with the trauma she endured after she, four of her friends and roughly 40 others attempted to hide in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Re’im after they fled the festival by car after the attack.

Raphael, who was forced to hide under the bodies of those killed in front of her for about eight hours before help arrived, has shared her story and described how Hamas terrorists repeatedly returned to the bomb shelter and opened fire on those hiding inside.

Eventually, the terrorists began throwing grenades into the concrete shelter, a story similar to what dozens endured that day, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

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“Music is one of the strongest ingredients in my healing process,” she said during the competition Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.

Despite having no previous experience as a singer, Raphael secured her top spot after singing “The Writings on the Wall” followed by a rendition of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” dedicated to “all the angels” killed in the October 2023 terrorist attack.

Raphael had previously garnered international attention not with her powerhouse voice but by sharing her experience with the United Nations Human Rights Council in a move she said was not politically motivated but an attempt to bring attention to what innocent civilians endured that tragic day.

Pictures are displayed on the walls of a bomb shelter near Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, April 7, 2024, where, six months earlier, people sought refuge before being killed during the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)

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Yuval Raphael, 24, won the slot to represent Israel at the Eurovision music competition Jan. 23, 2023, after having no prior singing experience. (Ortal Dahan Ziv)

“I want to tell them the story of the country, of what I went through, of what others went through,” she reportedly said ahead of the final. “I want to tell the story, but not from a place of seeking pity. I want it to be from a place of standing strong in the face of this and in the face of the boos I’m 100% sure will come from the crowd.”

Raphael’s comments were in reference to the pushback she and other Israelis have faced during the international competitions, including in 2024, following the terrorist attack and subsequent Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operations in Gaza.

Yuval Raphael, 24, won the slot to represent Israel at the Eurovision music competition Jan. 23, 2023, despite having no prior singing experience. (Ortal Dahan Ziv)

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Israel has faced calls to be banned from the international competition, but the European Broadcasting Union has rejected the push, affirming that Eurovision is a non-political music event. The 2024 Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, faced anti-Israeli protests and had to be granted a Shin Bet security detail.

Golan was also required to change the name of her song, “October Rain,” to “Hurricane” because event officials believed it was too political, The Times of Israel reported.

January 23, 2025