Eilon Gabriel Atel, 13, was playing soccer with friends in Nehariya last week when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and collapsed due to suffering a cardiac arrest, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Eilon’s friends frantically called the MDA hotline 101 who instructed them in basic resuscitation techniques until MDA paramedics arrived.

“As soon as I arrived at the field, I saw a young boy unconscious and the people who were there performing basic resuscitation operations under the guidance of the medic from the MDA dispatch center,” said MDA EMT Feres Rayes. “We started performing advanced resuscitation operations, and with the help of the team from the intensive care unit, we continued our efforts until his heart began beating on its own.”

Long and harrowing moments passed as the team performed chest compressions, delivered electric shocks via a defibrillator, and administered medication.

“We arrived at the scene with the MICU and continued the resuscitation operations,” said Amit Orenshten, an MDA paramedic. “This is not a common situation to perform resuscitation operations on a young boy, and we really fought for him. In the first few seconds after the electric shocks, I saw on the screen of the defibrillator that Eilon’s heart was beating again, and we were all very relieved. His friends really shouted for joy on the pitch.”

The paramedics continued life-saving treatment while transferring Eilon to the hospital, where his condition eventually stabilized.

“We have no words to thank the medic at the MDA dispatch center who instructed those who were in Eilon’s area how to start performing the resuscitation operations and the teams that arrived quickly at the football field and brought Eilon back to us. We have no doubt that without their dedicated care in the first and critical minutes Eilon would not have been with us today,” said Meshi Atal, Eilon’s mother.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)