The parents of 12-year-old Barak Khoury, who was killed riding his bike on Yom Kippur on Wednesday night, have spoken publicly for the first time since his death, Maariv reported on Saturday evening.
His parents spoke about their reaction at the moment in which they heard that their son had been killed, and shared stories about him, his personality and his hobbies.
"He had an extraordinary curiosity," his mother said during the interview. "He was unusually creative, in everything he touched - he created something amazing out of it."
"During adolescence, a lot of children keep their distance from their parents, but Barak was not like that," his mother said, as reported by N12. "As much love as you could want, that's what you would get from him."
Barak was supposed to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah next month, and his parents have set up a foundation in his memory, with which they will launch a project to commemorate him, while focusing on something that he was passionate about.
According to N12, his parents spoke with pride when asked about his hobbies. Barak loved to paint, program robots and enjoyed carpentry and sewing, they said.
"He would carry out any idea that came into his mind. He was working on several projects at the same time."
"His motto was 'I will invent an invention that will change the world,'" his mother said.
The Khoury family only learned of the accident after phoning the police on Wednesday night, after Barak failed to return home and did not answer his phone. Upon reporting their son missing, the police informed them that there had been an accident, and requested they go to the hospital, Maariv reported.
The 12-year-old was undergoing surgery when his parents arrived, and only then did they realize how bad the situation was, his mother recalled.
"A quarter of an hour after we arrived - the story was over," she said through tears.
The driver suspected of killing Barak has been named as Eran Azulai, a 40-year-old who has been convicted of drunk driving two times in the past.
Neta Shafir, an eyewitness at the scene of the accident, has been quoted on N12 as saying that "the vehicle arrived at an insane speed, he did not try to move to the side, he did not try to brake."
Asked if they felt anger towards Azulai, his parents replied asking "will it help me to get angry? Will it get me somewhere? Anger will not return my child to me."