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Michal Gili Charkesky

Following in the footsteps of lost love

Michal Gili Charkesky has been missing in Nepal since storm claimed lives of 43 trekkers; she hiked the Himalayas to seek closure, 13 years after boyfriend was killed in Annapurna.

Thirteen years after her then-boyfriend was killed by the highest mountain range in the world, Michal Gili Charkesky chose to retrace his steps on the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas.

 

 

Charkesky, a 36-year-old resident of Givatayim, has been missing since a tragic storm claimed the lives of 43 hikers in Nepal – including three Israelis.

 

Noam Hevlin, Charkesky's lost love, was 23 when he died in a 2001 avalanche on the Himalayan range.

 

Charkesky and Hevlin
Charkesky and Hevlin

"I sat with her at the end of Yom Kippur and we really connected here," said the Chabad delegate in Kathmandu, Rabbi Hani Lipschitz. "At a certain point in our heart-to-heart she began crying and told me that 13 years ago her boyfriend Noam was killed here in an avalanche."

 

The rabbi recalled the difficult days in 2001. "I immediately remembered the incident because it was during our first year here in Kathmandu. I remembered Noam's father arriving here for searches that last almost a year."

 

Lipschitz noted that the 36-year-old Charkesky was relatively older compared to the other trekkers, which allowed the two to connect and have deep conversations into the small hours of the night.

 

Israelis being rescued from Annapurna Circuit (Photo: Tamar Helek)
Israelis being rescued from Annapurna Circuit (Photo: Tamar Helek)

 

"Before leaving for the trek, she put her head on my shoulder and said she was going to get closure, to experience what Noam experienced. I told her that she must experience what he experienced on this hike," she told Charkesy before the latter left.

 

"It is tragic, the story is shocking," concluded Lipschitz.

 

Hevlin was laid to rest at the cemetery in Netanya after a year of searches. He left for the trek with two Israeli hikers who survived the horrendous incident. For an entire year his family toiled to discover his fate, with little luck.

 

Hevlin's father sent several search teams from Israel to Nepal without any success. After a year, local residents discovered his body approximately one kilometer away from the site of the avalanche.

 

Shirli Hevlin, his sister, told Ynet: "I know they were in touch and I know Michal. When I saw her picture I was devastated. This coincidence shows the absurdity of life. It is very sad and it hurts. I understand what the family is going through."

 

Israelis rescued from Annapurna storm (Photo: Tamar Helek)
Israelis rescued from Annapurna storm (Photo: Tamar Helek)

 

Michal's brother, Lior Koren, told Ynet on Saturday morning: "Information we received from people on the ground who saw her points to a near certainty that she remained near the peak. We were told her guide left her, ran away, and through official sources we know that he arrived at the base without her – with her pack."

 

The Foreign Ministry's situation room reported noon Saturday that 40 Israelis traveling in Annapurna Circuit route in northern Nepal were still out of contact following the snow blizzards that hit the area.

 

The body of Nadav Shoham, who was killed in the disaster, is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday evening. The bodies of the other two Israeli casualties, Tamar Ariel and Agam Luria, are expected to arrive in Israel at the beginning of next week.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.18.14, 21:48
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