‘It all comes down to marrying the most incredible woman who has done everything for me,’ Hall said of his recovery from injuries suffered while covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was seriously injured while covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, believes his wife, Alicia Meller, should be getting all the credit for his extraordinary recovery.
“Alicia took over at home, and she did two jobs for five months. She was a father, and a mother, and she took care of them and had to ask and answer questions we would never have had to answer from our children until many years later,” Hall said Thursday on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” “And that’s difficult, when you have to confront such big injuries and such a big event with young daughters, but she handled it absolutely amazingly.”
Hall was severely wounded last year while covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when a vehicle he was traveling in was struck by incoming fire in Horenka, outside Kyiv. Beloved Fox News photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova were killed in the attack that devastated Fox News and the journalism industry at large. Hall was the only survivor. He has been through roughly 30 surgeries, lost a leg on one side and a foot on the other, and also no longer has function of a hand and one eye.
Hall and Meller appeared on “The Story” to provide a glimpse into what viewers will see when they tune in to a special documentary Sunday on Fox News, “Sacrifice and Survival: A Story From the Front Line,” which details his remarkable recovery and journey home.
Fox News State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall believes his wife, Alicia Meller, should be getting all the credit for his extraordinary recovery. (Fox News)
“This is a real honor for me right now because it’s the first time I’ve been on air with Alicia…. This whole story is about Alicia., about trying to get home to my family, and so she’s the one that should be getting far more credit than I should,” Hall said with his prosthetic on full display
Alicia had one takeaway of the documentary for viewers,
“We got through it,” she said. “Anyone in our position, probably, hopefully, would have done the same. You put our children first and your husband, [and] together decide how you manage tragic situations like we’ve had.”
In a clip from the documentary, Hall detailed the experience of being reunited with his wife after they made a joint decision for her to stay home in London with their young daughters during his rehabilitation process.
“I was so nervous about it, I didn’t know what to say to her. I just remember, we just hugged,” Hall said. “We just cried.”
MacCallum noted that Alicia’s support for her husband was undeniable during the film, as she understood how important Hall’s career is to him despite the dangers of reporting from war zones.
Fox News foreign correspondent Benjamin Hall was wounded when the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by incoming fire in Horenka, outside Kyiv. (Fox News)
“Absolutely, the job that he does, and he did, it’s incredibly important, he gives voices to people that don’t have a voice,” she said. “I’ve always been a huge supporter of his work.”
Hall has detailed that his wife and three daughters have given him the strength to keep going. In fact, he believes his daughters spoke to him immediately after the tragic attack.
“She was as life-like as anything, and she just said, ‘Daddy you’ve got to get our of the car,’” Hall said. “It brought me back, and I came back into the world… I managed to drag myself out of the car before the third bomb hit the car itself. Really, that day it was my family that saved me.”
Alicia said that hearing that story made her extremely proud of their entire family.
“It also just reminds you how important your children are,” she said. “Benji getting out of that car, he realized this was not their fate, and he needed to be there for them, and he had to get out… they’re incredibly special children.”
Throughout the segment, Hall continued to credit his wife.
“It all comes down to marrying the most incredible woman who has done everything for me, every single step of the way,” Hall said as Meller playfully interrupted and said her husband was being too nice.
“It was a full team effort,” she said. “The girls have a father, I have a husband, and we’ll get through it.”
“Sacrifice and Survival: A Story From the Front Line” airs on Fox News Channel on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. An extended version will be available on FOX Nation following its Fox News Channel premiere.