‘My English is not so good but I want to tell you my story’ says Shlomo, originally from France who is a combat medic in the IDF infirmary unit. He was previously injured in the 2014 war and had to beg the IDF to let him serve again in Gaza. When the war began, Shlomo’s sister set up a command centre in the south and collected donations of food and equipment for the soldiers, she brought her brother a protective helmet which would ultimately save his life!

Shlomo and his unit had only been in Gaza one week when they were caught in crossfire and sought refuge in an abandoned house. They had waited there for three hours when Hamas terrorists ambushed them via a huge underground tunnel. Without warning, a grenade struck Shlomo from behind and he was flung against the wall as everything went black.

When he thankfully regained consciousness, Shlomo’s medical training kicked in and he began to do a body scan to analyse his injuries. In shock but conscious, he realised both his hands were injured so he could not help himself. Despite feeling intense pain he willed himself to remain calm as he instructed his team members to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding from his left leg. The blast was so severe that one of the soldiers in his unit lost their hearing as a result.

After calling for help, miraculously a rescue unit came several hours later to extract Shlomo and his unit; they had disobeyed direct orders as the mission was thought to be too dangerous. But Shlomo’s nightmare did not end there as the team had to manoeuvre him on a stretcher through a narrow alleyway. Shlomo explained how they kept dropping him and banging his head against the very narrow walls. He told us that at this at this point he was screaming with excruciating pain.

Shlomo was airlifted to Hadassah Ein Kerem where he received three blood transfusions and underwent nine operations including plastic surgery. The medic that treated Shlomo in the helicopter discovered he also had a small hole in his chest from the shrapnel. After evaluating his injuries the air medics applied four tourniquets to all his limbs and sedated Shlomo. When he eventually woke up Shlomo was surrounded by his family. The first thing he did was apologise to his mother as she did not want him to rejoin the IDF and go back into Gaza!

We were privileged to meet Shlomo during Hadassah International’s staff retreat in Jerusalem in June this year. He is sadly one of the hundreds of IDF soldiers who has been receiving treatment at Hadassah hospital after suffering multiple and complex injuries. Since the war began it has been reported that more than 6000 of Israel’s security forces have been injured with over 2000 of those being recognised as permanently disabled. The need has never been greater and more urgent for comprehensive rehabilitation services to heal the people of Israel.

Shlomo was one of the first patients to be treated at the new Hadassah Gandel Rehabilitation Centre at Mt. Scopus, which first started receiving patients in January, where he spent six months undergoing his long and arduous rehabilitative journey. At the start he could not walk or eat. In the first month all his limbs were unusable and the doctors thought he would be paralysed on the left side of his body. Shlomo has defied all odds with the help of his committed team of Hadassah rehabilitation specialists; he has recently completed his computer science degree and even ran a 10k marathon.

After hearing Shlomo’s story of bravery and resilience, our group toured the new rehabilitation centre. Construction had already began in 2020 but was delayed by the covid pandemic. When we visited in 2022 the shell of the building had been completed but the inside was still a construction site. Today, three of the eight floors are now functioning. These key floors include the hydrotherapy pools, physiotherapy, as well as the neurological and spinal cord rehabilitation and occupational therapy departments.

Hadassah UK were privileged to participate in the staff retreat this year and were touched by both the dedicated and compassionate Hadassah medical professionals as well as the wounded patients whose resilient spirit and strength is simply inspiring. They have not only survived but triumphed in face of unimaginable trauma. Hadassah is proudly helping a wounded nation heal and regain its dignity.

Editors notes

Hadassah UK is supporting construction of the Gandel Rehabilitation Centre through our emergency rehabilitation campaign to help the war-wounded improve their functionality and regain their quality of life- click here to find out more about this important project and see how you can help.