Family of Alexandre Look honours his legacy one year after his death

There is not one space in the Look family home that isn't somehow connected to Alexandre – from the paintings on the wall to the tequila bottles he collected, his parents have spent the last year gathering his things and bringing them home.

"The time passes, the distance grows. Like how long? I haven't actually heard his voice. And how long we had real conversation," Raquel Ohnona Look said in a recent interview.

The last conversation Raquel had with her son was on Oct. 7. He was fleeing the Supernova music festival when Hamas militants invaded.

Canada has listed Hamas as a terrorist organization.

His parents heard as the bunker her son and dozens of others were hiding in was attacked with gunshots and grenades. Still, she said she doesn't regret answering that call.

"We'll never be the same because all three of us were on the phone call at those last moments. But I was with him till the end. I was with him till the end," she said.

In the days and months since his death, the family has learned more about those last moments. How he took the brunt of the attack to save others. And they met the first responder who found him.

"He answered many questions that haunted me, which I guess I needed to hear. I didn't know how much was left of Alex, and I kept wanting… Was there a face? Was there his beautiful face?"

Raquel said it brought some closure but hasn't stopped the grief.

"They say the worst grief is a child. And obviously, in any way, also unexpected. And if there was violence and we hit all three. So, I go from being very angry to deep sadness and just like wanting to look at him dance, move like I watch him a lot."

Raquel said that the anti-Israel sentiment since Oct. 7 has compounded her grief.

"Well, seeing synagogues being attacked, seeing Jewish schools being attacked. I never thought we would live this in Montreal in 2024," she said.

Raquel explained it is why their family decided to move back to Côte Saint-Luc, to be closer to the community that has supported them through their worst nightmare. It's also to be closer to the Alexandre Look Place, a park named in their son's honour.

"It will tell generations to come of what happened that day and what he did that day, and how he stood for it with his convictions."