Nurses at Hadassah Har HaTzofim Hospital in Jerusalem gasped in shock as a routine check up turned into an event which became the talk of the entire staff. They had been checking in on the vitals of a patient who had been unresponsive for two years. As they took notes on his condition that morning, however, Yaakov Simyonov did something they thought he would never see: He woke up. 

Yaakov had been a young, healthy father of 7 living in the town of Rechasim, when he suffered a sudden severe stroke. In a single moment he came nearly brain-dead. For days, then weeks, his wife and children sat by his hospital bed, waiting for him to return to himself. Tragically, he did not. For two years, he laid in bed.

Still, wife Leah would make the hours long trip into Jerusalem so her children could see their father. Leah  did what she needed to do: She stepped up to raise her kids alone, a feat of tremendous strength. When the news came that Yaakov had woken up recently, it was a miracle. For the Simyonov family, unfortunately, it was not a simple happy ever after.

Yaakov remains severely brain damaged. Now Leah’s daily responsibilities have increased from raising her 7 children, to caring full time for an unresponsive husband as well. Shocking photos of the family before and after the tragedy show an extreme before and after. One thing becomes clear from the video which gives a glimpse into Leah’s life: There is no money, and her life is a logistical impossibility.  

“I see Yaakov, who used to be so active, who could help me. And now he’s like this…,” she says, eyes full of fear and pain. “I have nowhere to turn.”

You can see Leah tell her story herself here.

Money is being raised to help her take care of her children and her husband, a weight that is more than any one person could possibly bear.