A 71-year-old man from the north of Israel celebrated his grandson’s bar mitzvah in Be’er Sheva. As he spoke at the event, he began to feel ill and collapsed soon after. Several of the guests called for help, and their cries were heard by four of the guests in the adjacent hall – three MDA paramedics and a senior EMT – who were attending a friend’s event and who also happened to be MDA volunteers. Within a few seconds the MDA paramedics, Alon Rizkhan, Barak Cohen and Eyal Okashi, and senior EMT Gil Bissamot, arrived.

MDA paramedic Alon Rizkhan: “We were celebrating in the hall next door when suddenly there were cries, we realized that something was wrong and ran to see an elderly man who had collapsed and was unconscious and without a pulse. We started with basic resuscitation, while paramedic Barak Cohen, a MDA on-call responder, ran to his car to bring CPR equipment he had with him. He returned in less than two minutes, and with the defibrillator we continued the resuscitation with electric shocks. A few minutes later, the man’s heart began beating again and he began to wake up. MDA paramedics arrived and transported him to hospital for further treatment in stable condition”.

The man’s wife said: “His behavior was perfectly normal, he was dancing and davening, and as he spoke, he felt short of breath and a few moments later he collapsed. We have three children and fifteen grandchildren, and we are all grateful to the MDA EMTs and paramedics. If they were not accidentally in the next hall, he may not have been alive today”.

MDA Paramedic, Barak Cohen: “During my many years at Magen David Adom, I treated hundreds of patients who needed CPR, but this was not an ordinary incident. Everything happened very quickly, but we had no doubt that we would put everything aside and do everything in our power to save the man’s life. It’s hard to explain the satisfaction we felt when we returned to our friend event, knowing we just saved a life”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit: MDA Spokesman)