Shimon Levi, a resident of Ramat Eshkol who recently sang a duet with Yaakov Shwekey, was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the terror attack in a park near Ramat Eshkol on Shabbos afternoon and administer first aid to the victim.

Levi, who himself is a survivor of the Beis Yisrael terror attack in 2002, told Kikar H’Shabbat what happened: “My wife and I went out for a walk with the baby after Shabbos lunch. We were walking near the park when suddenly we saw the terrorist running. It was a neis he didn’t notice us and ran right past us. He was in a frenzy and was screaming ‘Allah Akbar’ as he ran toward the park.”

“At first I didn’t realize he attacked someone. It was only after I saw a Chareidi man on the ground, soaked in blood and shouting for help, that I realized what happened.”

“I told my wife to run home and I ran to help him. I approached him and looked for where the blood was coming from. I took off my bekeshe and put it on him, around the knife that was stuck in his back. He was half conscious but he managed to tell me that he couldn’t feel his lower body and asked me if he would get out of this alive. I tried to calm him down and cried for help.”

“By chance, a Border Guard vehicle passed by. Five police officers got out of the vehicle but they didn’t have any first equipment. I asked them for something to cut his clothes off.”

“At those moments, what was going through my mind was that the terrorist is still free. I was worried about the children that were in the park. I began to tearfully mutter pirkei Tehillim and then I remembered my song: “אין דבר רע יורד מן השמיים.” It gave me koach even though I was still shaking.”

“I didn’t let go of the knife because that’s what I learned in a first aid course – until the arrival of the emergency medical forces, who evacuated him.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)