Avi Megira, 48: Motorcycle enthusiast and dad of 4 ‘was young at heart’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists in Sderot on October 7
Avi Megira, 48, from Sderot, was murdered by Hamas terrorists while out on his motorcycle on October 7.
He left his house around 6:15 that morning to meet up with friends for a motorcycle ride, as he did almost every weekend. When the rocket fire began, Avi decided to turn around and head home, but unknowingly passed by a cell of Hamas terrorists on the street who were opening fire on every passerby.
Avi was shot dead on the street while on his motorcycle. His family saw his body on the news and went out to find him, and one relative decided to remain by his side until he was collected — playing dead so he would not be targeted.
Despite identifying his body at the scene, his family waited more than 10 days to be able to bury him amid the upheaval and influx of bodies.
He was buried in Sderot on October 18. He is survived by his wife, Michal, their four children, Shalev, Shaked, Ilay and Ori, his parents, Mazal and Eliyahu and his siblings Maya and Mishel.
His niece, Or Maman Hadad, told a local radio station that her uncle “was an incredible person, wonderful, he was like a dad to me. I remember as a kid I was so connected to him, I would go with him everywhere. He’s a good person… A good dad, a person who — as his niece I could call him at 2 a.m. and say, ‘Avi I’m stuck can you come get me,’ and he would just get up and get in the car and come get me. He was an incredible dad to his kids.”
On Memorial Day 2024, Avi’s sister, Maya, wrote on Facebook that “we would talk every day about everything, you were a listening ear for me and I for you. You knew how to listen, to accept and also to get mad and tell me I was wrong if needed.”
Maya said Avi was a dedicated father and doting uncle to her children, “admired by all of us, handsome, a role model, you’ll stay young forever and we’ll always remember the glow of your beautiful face.”
Writing on Facebook, Avi’s son, Shaked, said he was used to being awoken by his father every Saturday “from the engine of your motorcycle as you headed out to tear up the streets as only you knew how.”
The last time he saw him, he said, was after Yom Kippur, when he dropped him off at the train station to return to his IDF base.
“You were so proud of me, of my path and how much you saw yourself in me,” wrote Shaked. “We were so close, like partners, you were a father, you were my best friend, my partner in everything, you would share everything with me and you would direct me along every path.”
Shaked said, “I wouldn’t do anything without knowing your opinion, you were my teacher, my guide, my role model… You loved life so much, you were young at heart, a dad who was a kid, you loved to enjoy, to be happy in every moment, you were loved by everyone.”