Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall made his first comments Thursday night since he and his crew came under attack last month while covering the war in Ukraine. He detailed his serious injuries, but said he feels lucky to be alive.
In a tweet that included a photo of himself laying on a stretcher with a patch over his left eye, Hall tweeted just how severely he was injured. He wrote, “To sum it up, I’ve lost half a leg on one side and a foot on the other. One hand is being put together, one eye is no longer working, and my hearing is pretty blown… but all in all I feel pretty damn lucky to be here – and it is the people who got me here who are amazing!”
Hall was injured on March 14 in an attack that killed Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist and fixer Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova. It happened when incoming fire hit their vehicle outside of Kyiv in Horenka.
With the help of Fox News journalists, the Pentagon and a team of specialists, the badly injured Hall was able to be evacuated out of Ukraine. He was treated in a hospital in Germany and is now at a medical center in Texas.
Before giving his own update, Hall started with a tweet about his fallen colleagues, writing, “Its been over three weeks since the attack in Ukraine and I wanted to start sharing it all. But first I need to pay tribute to my colleagues Pierre and Sasha who didnt make it that day. Pierre and I traveled the world together, working was his joy and his joy was infectious. RIP.”
Fox News first gave an update on Hall during Sean Hannity’s prime-time show on Thursday night. Hannity said, “First to Pierre and Sasha’s family — our thoughts and prayers are with all of them as they suffer. You know you think about all the injuries, all the lives lost for the cause of freedom. Ben as a friend and a colleague, you did amazing work in Ukraine, all of us here at Fox, everyone, I know I speak for every person that works on this network, we are praying for you, your family during your road to recovery and we pray for the families of these two brave journalists, Sasha and Pierre, who did not make it home. We wish you a speedy recovery.”
Tom Jones is Poynter’s senior media writer. For the latest media news and analysis, delivered free to your inbox each and every weekday morning, sign up for his Poynter Report newsletter.
