
Yaniv Rojevski, a friend of Yochai Elkayam, who drowned yesterday in Ashdod when he tried to rescue a young woman who was in distress, recounted the tragic event in an interview with News 10 Monday.
"I did not realize at all that it was Yohai, and then someone called me and saw that it was him." Rojevski said. "His situation was already difficult at that moment, they tried to revive him and worked hard on him.
He noted, "It is clear to me that his desire to save a person was stronger than his judgment at that moment."
A police investigation revealed that Elkayam, a personal fitness trainer from Ashdod, was enjoying the beach with his friend on the beach when he noticed a young woman who entered the water and signaled to them that she was in distress. The two entered the sea to save her. The young woman and her partner were rescued and one of them was evacuated to the hospital for further medical treatment.
At the same time a number of people went out to save Elkayam. A lifeguard who was there and other passersby who rescued him from the water began trying to stabilize his condition. The Magen David Adom team who was called to the beach began CPR and evacuated him to the Assuta hospital in the city, where efforts continued to stabilize his condition. However, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Friends said that Yochai Elkayam intended to propose to his girlfriend in the coming days and even planned the moment with them.