Six weeks ago, a senior officer in the IDF Paratroops Brigade, Nadav, was seriously injured in a shooting terrorist attack near the Old City of Jerusalem.
Today, he was released from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, standing on his own two feet. In advance of his release, Nadav expressed his gratitude saying, “I am so thankful to Shaare Zedek doctors and all the people of Israel for their prayers on my behalf.”
Just weeks prior to his release Nadav was in extremely serious condition and several times experienced multiple systems failure with his life hanging in the balance.
A career officer in the Paratroopers, Nadav had been walking with his family on a Shabbat morning when a 13-year-old terrorist ambushed them. Despite his serious wounds, Nadav was able to return fire and neutralized the terrorist.
He was transferred to Shaare Zedek with multiple wounds to his abdomen. His father had also suffered light wounds and was also treated in the hospital. Upon arrival in the Trauma Unit, the medical teams fought to stabilize his condition working including complex efforts to save his lungs. Because of the extent of his injuries, Nadav’s condition would continue to deteriorate in subsequent days and his body began to shut down. He was attached to an ECMO machine and at all times was monitored extremely closely by teams of cardiac and intensive care specialists.
The multi-departmental team responsible for Nadav’s care included Director of Trauma Services, Dr. Alon Schwartz, Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Danny Fink, Dr. Roni Eichel of the Department of Neurology, Dr. Stephan Mausbach of the Neurological Intensive Care Unit, Prof. Philip Levine, Director of the General ICU, Prof. Petachia Reissman, Director of General Surgery and many support staff from all across the hospital. His care also saw the heavy involvement of Shaare Zedek’s social workers, respiratory technicians, psychology experts, physiotherapists and others- all committed to seeing Nadav experience a remarkable recovery from an extremely precarious situation.
Meeting with the doctors responsible for saving his life, Nadav welcomed the chance to thank the medical teams and all those who prayed on his behalf. “I’m told that my condition was extremely serious and I am so thankful to God that I am here with you at this time. Me and my family are so indebted to the people of Shaare Zedek who were so dedicated to my care. From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful to everyone who cared for me and my family. Thank God, I will leave here tomorrow for rehabilitation at Tel Hashomer hospital and very much hope that I will be able to quickly return to my army battalion, Battalion 202 from the Paratroopers Brigade and I will continue to lead my beloved soldiers in any mission that will be placed before us.”
The Shaare Zedek staff expressed their good wishes to Nadav and his family and emotionally recalled the challenging moments during his treatment at the hospital, “Nadav’s family taught us all an incredible lesson in humility and humanity and Nadav taught is a lesson in heroism. Nadav experienced an extremely complex and lengthy hospitalization and throughout his time here he underwent numerous intensive and lifesaving procedures. Throughout all these weeks, our teams never stopped fighting for his life even in those moments when it looked like his condition wasn’t improving or even approached a point of complete systems collapse. To see Nadav standing on his own and leaving for continued rehabilitation is a true miracle that is deeply moving for all of us who took part in this very challenging case. We wish Nadav only continued health and good luck in his continued path to recovery.”
