Passover with United Hatzalah
Day 8- Story 8 (for outside of Israel)
(Isru Chag for inside Israel)
Recently, Avner was on his way to a grocery store in Bnei Brak when United Hatzalah dispatch alerted him to an unconscious man in nearby Tel Aviv. Avner quickly switched directions and sped to the address, easily navigating through the busy traffic.
He arrived at the location and found a 40 year-old construction worker collapsed on the ground. The Arab worker had been complaining of a lingering pain on his left side all day long and those symptoms later proved to be indicative of a serious heart condition.
Avner and other rescue crews performed CPR on the victim, alternating chest compressions with assisted ventilations. Soon they attached a defibrillator and administered a shock. There was no result, so they administered another. And another. Finally the medic monitoring his vitals detected a pulse – the CPR was successful! They quickly loaded the man into an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital.
A few days later, Avner was speaking with a fellow medic and asked him if he knew the condition of the construction worker that he treated. The medic replied that en route to the hospital, the man’s pulse faded repeatedly and he required an additional 16 shocks from the defibrillator. Avner was very concerned about the man, and went to the hospital to visit him.
The devoted volunteer entered the hospital room and found the man sitting in bed surrounded by his extensive family. When the family members saw Avner, they warmly embraced him and thanked him profusely. Then a ten year-old girl stepped forward – the man’s only child. Despite her mother-tongue being Arabic, the man had taught his daughter enough Hebrew to tell Avner, “Thank you for saving my father’s life”. Avner serves as an IDF officer protecting Jews and Israel. Saving a life is incredibly special, but being there in that room with a large Arab family thanking him was a very emotional encounter for him.
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