Etzion Rescue Unit search team commander Netanel Ben Shai yesterday arrived to rescue a hiker who became stuck between heaven and earth while rappelling, only to discover it was his own brother who had already recited a Jew's last words "Shema Yisrael".
Malachi Ben Shai was rappelling at Nahal Hatzatzon from a height of about 120 meters. After descending about 105 meters, his ropes became tangled and he found himself suspended between heaven and earth about 17 meters above the ground.
"The heat is terrible outside," Malachi Ben-Shai repeated on Galei Tzahal. "You get hotter and hotter."
He added, "'If you heat an egg it'll turn into an omelet, but if you refrigerate an omelet it won't turn into an egg, and you feel it right on your body and you weaken."
Ben Shai had already begun to "see the end." He said: "You're already saying, 'Hear, O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is One.' I said Psalms. You're suspended in the air, the muscle's already burning."
His brother Netanel scrambled to Nahal Hatzatzon to help rescue his brother without knowing it was his brother: "I didn't know it was my brother," he said. "I got a call saying 'send forces fast, there are people stuck in Nahal Hatzatzon' and he hangs up.
"They don't tell me it's my brother, they tell me it's 4 people. I asked them where they're stuck. They tell me on a rope. I asked if they had water so they told me yes and I asked him who else is with you and then he stutters and says 'your brother'. I'd already started the car. It turns out that two more of my brothers were there. I was able to communicate with one of them via phone with weak reception," he recalled.
"He was there for four hours and I, as a paramedic, thought all sorts of things. What's it like to be on a rope for an hour - and he was there for four hours," he added. "I consulted with people from the unit, and in the end they manage to bring him down to the ground. A few minutes later, a paramedic was sent down to him and saw he was okay."
He said, "The paramedic said the man was fine, 'give him some fluids and he can keep going.' I called my mom, a mom of 12 kids, and tell her 'Mom if you hear it from someplace else then know everything's fine.' She tells me 'I don't believe until I see a picture'."