For Dror Zicherman, the owner of Sparrow Gym that recently celebrated its grand opening in Tel Aviv’s Florentine neighborhood, this isn’t just any old business venture – it’s his own private success following a 16-year rehabilitation.
“My pulse is racing, I’m definitely excited about this,” admits Zicherman, a 35-year-old single man from Tel Aviv, who refers to himself as a life coach. “I believe in this gym wholeheartedly, and I know that it is truly helping people. For me, it’s a personal victory. It’s what makes me want to get out of bed every morning.”
On December 29, 2005, while Zicherman was serving as a combat soldier in the Nachshon Battalion, his unit was sent to stand guard at a roadblock near Tulkarm.
“We’d received urgent alerts about a planned terrorist attack that was scheduled to take place at a Hanukkah celebration,” Zicherman recalls. “We began thoroughly checking each car that came through the roadblock. Then a Palestinian taxi zoomed up, with the suicide terrorist inside. While we were checking the car, the terrorist exploded a 30-kilogram explosive that was strapped to his body. My commander, Lt. Ori Binamo, was killed on the spot, and I was severely injured. I really have no idea how I survived.
“I arrived at the hospital after suffering multi-system trauma, a shattered leg and internal bleeding. I was declared clinically dead and was in a coma for days. On the eighth night of Hanukkah, miraculously I woke up.”
Do you have any memories from the attack?
“Yes. I was conscious throughout the entire attack. It was awful to feel so helpless. I could not react to the situation. I saw everything around me had completely imploded, but I couldn’t move. It was crazy. I felt like I was in a horror film. There was smoke everywhere around me, and an intense smell of dust and burning. I felt death all around me.”
Zicherman’s physical rehabilitation was lengthy.
“I had 32 separate operations. The pain was insane, but I was in good spirits since I had so many supportive people around me,” he recounts. “People were calling me a hero, and I tried to internalize this concept. After spending six months at Tel Hashomer Hospital, I left on my own two legs and went home. I went through a full transformation during those months and felt like I was a completely different person than who I had been before the attack.
“I was starting a new life. Despite the difficulties and pain, I wanted to recover. I told myself that I was strong and wanted to get back to having as normal a life as I could.”
Have you returned to a normal life?
“I slowly got back a semblance of normalcy. I studied for the psychometric exam, saved up money and then two years after the attack, I did my ‘post-army’ trip to South America with a friend.”
That was precisely when Zicherman began experiencing severe difficulties.
“I was far away from home and no longer surrounded by the supportive people I was used to being with on a daily basis,” Zicherman remembers. “Now that I was in these quiet, calm surroundings, my thoughts began running wild and I got extremely depressed. I started experiencing flashbacks of the attack and I developed severe anxiety. I would suddenly start sweating, and any little noise would set me off. I was experiencing severe PTSD, but I didn’t know anything about this syndrome at the time.
“I came home after six months, and the symptoms didn’t go away. I never shared any of this with anyone; I felt it was too shameful to speak about it. I kept it all inside, and it kept getting worse and worse, until I started feeling physical pain in my body, too.”
At what point did you decide to get help?
“After three years, I had a complete nervous breakdown. I went to a psychiatrist and after two hours he told me, ‘My dear friend, you have PTSD.’
“I was shocked. Up until that moment, I’d thought that people with PTSD from combat-related events were people who’d lost their minds and were crazy. I thought they were completely disconnected from reality. Suddenly I realized this could be what was happening to me as well. I did therapy for many years. For years, I mostly stayed home and barely went out. Each time I tried something new, I’d end up quitting. I was severely depressed and was taking a ton of medication, and smoking a lot. I couldn’t keep any relationships going. In short, I wasn’t capable of doing anything. I was anxious about everything. I almost gave up and decided to hospitalize myself.”
Then things took a turn during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
“This war was extremely traumatic for the whole country, and so the idea came to me that I could be helpful by visiting soldiers who’d been injured and were in the hospital,” says Zicherman.
“When I arrived at the hospital, what I saw before me were guys whose lives and bodies had been shattered. They were expending so much energy trying to behave like heroes. They still didn’t realize what difficulties and challenges were still before them. All of a sudden, I had an attack flashback. Everyone had also told me how I was a hero, so I realized that I needed to help these young men. This was the first time I felt like I was doing something tangible that would actually help me heal myself. I realized that every day I spoke with an injured soldier, I felt like it had strengthened me too. This helped me rise up out of my depression, though it didn’t help me deal with my PTSD.”
Zicherman began engaging in athletic activity six years ago.
“I realized how much time I’d wasted just sitting at home doing nothing, not being a functioning individual. So I decided I wanted to do something meaningful with my life. I began searching for ways to get out of the rut I was in, and that’s how I began working out and building up my physical strength. I started noticing how in addition to feeling better physically, I also was feeling better emotionally. After each workout, I felt more relaxed, less stressed and more positive about life in general. I figured since doing exercise was helpful for me, it would probably be helpful for others too, and soon enough this became the focus of my life. I began working as a personal trainer for other people who’d been injured.”
After the pandemic broke out, Zicherman began toying with the idea of opening a gym.
“I decided that as soon as the COVID-19 crisis ended, I would open up a gym that would help people deal with their issues. I invested all of my money, and even took out loans.”
That’s a pretty drastic step to take during this period of great unknown.
“It sure is. But, I know that I’m doing such great things for other people, and I know that working out is important and helps everyone, so this is challenging and is also lots of fun along the way. I suffered greatly during the lockdowns, especially because the health restrictions prevented me from exercising. I was doing workouts at home, but it didn’t have the same effect. So that’s when I decided I would open my special gym. My dream was to help people who were like me – people who’d been injured, were born with deformities, or faced challenges functioning in society. I wanted to help them blossom through exercising in a place where no one would ogle them or treat them like outcasts.
“One person who I’m helping train, who suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot move his right hand, can now lift 35-kilo weights. That just goes to show how physical activity can help you succeed.”
Do you feel your experiences make you better able to help others?
“Getting in shape helped me grow. I was able to reduce the amount of physical pain I was experiencing, overcome my mental issues and move forward. My gym is open to any and everyone who feels like they are invisible in modern society, people with PTSD, with injuries and who suffered traumatic experiences in combat. I help them overcome the obstacles before them, and this helps me too.
“I understand the pain of the people who are working out in my gym. I understand firsthand the incredible challenges they are trying to overcome and the hardships they are experiencing, because I too was there – and am still there.”
Translated by Hannah Hochner.