Miracle 1:
A mass casualty accident occurred when a fully laden bus and van collided on road 89 near Hurfeish in northern Israel. 5 people were killed including the bus driver. MDA responded to the incident by sending a helicopter, MICU’s and medicycles. An MDA paramedic on the scene recalls: “this was a very serious accident. When we arrived, a bus was turned on its side across the road and a badly damaged van was on the shoulder of the road with 5 unresponsive passengers trapped inside. Australian Friends of Magen David Adom is proud to have played a vital lifesaving role in this disaster thanks to the medicycle generously donated in the name of Eve Casper that attended the scene. As it says in the Talmud, “He who saves one life, it is as if he has saved an entire world.”
Miracle 2:
Dovel’a Schachor, an MDA medic, received an urgent phone call from his brother, who had fallen ill from Corona, telling him that his wife, who had also fallen ill, was in labour and was already giving birth. Dovel’a and paramedic Oren Kleiner raced to the house in full PPE and brought her into the ambulance. The baby came too fast, and Dovel’a helped deliver the baby in the ambulance. Within minutes, his nephew, a sweet baby, was born, and he called his brother to tell him the good news. Dovel’a became the hero of the family, and no doubt has a wonderful story for his nephew when he grows up.
Miracle 3:
MDA paramedic Yair Schussheim was dispatched to a man suffering a heart attack. Despite having no respiration or productive heartbeats, Yair performed CPR on him for 75 minutes before his heart began to beat normally. He survived with no ill effects, not even broken ribs from the ceaseless cardiac compressions. Normally, a paramedic wouldn’t perform CPR on a patient this long, but Yair felt his fight to survive. Help us support our hero. Doctors called it a miracle – Yair called it his job!
Miracle 4:
Mia Shapiro Sterlin (15) completed the MDA first aid course and became a volunteer in the organisation. When visiting a store, she heard calls for help and saw Shmuel Levy (79) unconscious, with a passer-by receiving telephone instructions from a paramedic at 101 on how to perform CPR using an MDA defibrillator from lottery booth. Mia identified herself as an MDA volunteer and began performing CPR and used the defibrillator which stabilized Shmuel, allowing him to be evacuated to the hospital.
Miracle 5:
EMTs Avi Harosh and Baruch Garamay arrived at the scene to discover a car surrounded by an angry mob. The driver was being attacked. The ambulance couldn’t get close. With stones being hurled and crowds rushing toward him, Avi jumped out and ran to the vehicle, while Baruch maneuvered the ambulance to the scene.
Avi and Baruch are heroes. Like all MDA personnel, they regularly put their own lives at risk to save the lives of others.
Miracle 6:
When a man’s heart quit, it was Ben Peled who never stopped. Arriving in a few minutes on his Medicycle, Ben initiated CPR and used his defibrillator to administer shocks. As the patient was being loaded onto the Mobile Intensive Care Unit Ambulance that arrived a few minutes later, his heart stopped two more times, only to be revived twice more before arriving at the hospital. A pacemaker was installed, and the man made a full recovery.
Miracle 7:
Inbal Rauchwerger – Dayan has an annual tradition of watching the first sunset of the new year.
It was a warm evening, so ignoring the “No Swimming” signs, some people ventured into the sea.
As the sun disappeared Inbal suddenly heard shouts for a lifeguard. As an EMT with MDA, Inbal ran to the shore, where she saw hands grasping for the surface and noticed the cries for “help” getting weak. Immediately, she called MDA’s emergency dispatch to report the incident, but she knew because of the desolate location with no roads, it would take a while for help to arrive. Taking control, she instructed the civilians to follow her lead as she started CPR on one of the victims. Six people went into the sea that evening. Five of them will get to see another sunset, thanks to Inbal and the caring civilians who helped her save them.
Miracle 8:
Avraham Amsalem, 61, went into cardiac arrest in his home. Paramedics Oren Kainer and Yael Anconina and EMTs Roni Zaltz and Ofri Ido resuscitated him after strenuous CPR and electric shocks. Shortly after Avraham’s release from the hospital, he invited them all to his home to thank them.
“Meeting the angels of the MDA in the same place, but this time under happy circumstances would not have been possible if not for their professionalism and intense struggle to save my life.”