Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Ido Nechushtan arrived at the Hadassah-Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem on Sunday, where he awarded a certificate of merit to First Sergeant Hagar Zohar, who was injured in the collapse of the lighting bridge on Mount Herzl, which killed Lieutenant Hila Bezaleli. The accident occurred during rehearsals for the opening ceremony of Independence Day celebrations.
Zohar was on the list of the IDF’s 120 best and brightest soldiers, who received certificates in a special Independence Day ceremony in the President’s House. Zohar had to miss the ceremony because of her injury, so Nechushtan came to her hospital room to personally give her the certificate.
During the visit, Nechushtan also met Zohar’s family, who lives in New York but came to Israel after their daughter was injured.
“A lot of miracles happened to us,” Hagar's father told the Air Force commander. “The first miracle was the tree branches on the mountain which prevented the bridge from falling directly on the ground and hitting her head. Another miracle was that one of the participants at the ceremony was a doctor who gave her CPR and saved her life.”
Upon handing her the certificate Nechushtan told Hagar, “The certificate of merit is awarded to you for your professionalism and for the personal example you set. I thank you, and hope that you fully recover quickly.”
Nechusthan also met one of the doctors, who told him that “Hagar still needs some time to recover, but generally she is in good condition. She was lucky she was wearing combat boots; they saved her foot.”