On October 7 last year, when Hamas gunmen broke into her house in Israel's Kibbutz Nir Oz, Esther Cunio, 90, did the unimaginable. She talked about her Argentine roots and that she came from the country of footballer Lionel Messi.
"Messi" did the magic. She didn't only survive the attack but a Hamas gunman posed with her in a short clip as she held his assault rifle.
Eight members of her extended family were taken hostage during the attack, according to The Times of Israel. Her two grandchildren and one of their girlfriends are still being held in Gaza, while the rest of her family members were released as part of the truce deal.
Five months on, Cunio is set to feature in a new documentary on the Hamas attack that prompted the ongoing war in Gaza.
In a clip from the documentary "Voces de 7 de octubre - Latino Stories of Survival" which is still in the making, she narrated what had happened on that fateful day.
Two Hamas operatives came knocking at her doors on October 7, Cunio recounted in the video, enquiring about her family.
An unusual twist in the conversation soon became a savior for the 90-year-old.
"Do you watch soccer?" she asked them.
To a nod from a Hamas operative, she replied, "I am from where Messi is from."
"I like Messi," said one of them, brimming with excitement upon hearing the name of one of the greatest footballers. He then made her pose with his rifle and a victory sign for a video.
Recounting the encounter in the film, she also hoped Messi gets to know it was because of him she survived that day.
