Grandmother avoided abduction on October 7 after she mentioned Messi

When one of the terrorists became aggressive, she said: “Don’t talk to me. I don’t know your language and my Hebrew is bad. I speak Argentinian Spanish.”

The terrorist responded by asking: “What is Argentinian?” to which she replied: “Do you like soccer?” When the terrorist said that he did, Cunio told him: “I’m from where Messi is from.”

Ester Cunio credits her mention of Argentinian football star Lionel Messi for saving her from abduction on October 7 (Photo: Britannica)[Missing Credit]

According to Cunio, the terrorist then said: “Messi? I like Messi!”, gave her an AKA47 gun to hold, told her to make a peace sign and took a selfie with the grandmother.

The photo has since become a symbol of Hamas’ attack on October 7.

The exchange may have saved Cunio’s life, but she is now calling on the international sporting hero to campaign on behalf of the hostage families to help release their loved ones.

Voices of October 7: Latino Stories of Survival, produced by Fuente Latina, tells the stories of the Latin American immigrants caught up in the October 7 attacks, many of whom lived on Kibbutz Nir Oz.

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