Last Thursday in Kiryat Yearim, United Hatzalah volunteers responders Shaul Samber and Raphi Ben David were dispatched to an emergency in the city involving a two-year-old who suffered a head injury after a heavy object fell on his face.
The volunteers arrived at the nearby location within less than a minute of receiving the emergency alert and treated the boy for his injuries applying bandages, stopping the bleeding, and comforting the terrified boy and his mother. When the ambulance arrived, the boy was already prepared for transport to the hospital with his mother set to accompany him, however, a problem arose. There was another child in the house, a three-month-old infant. With the mother alone and needing to take her injured son to the hospital, there was no one at home to stay with the other child.
Ben David quickly offered to stay with the infant together with Samber. Ben David and Samber, both of whom are young fathers, took the infant and placed him in a car seat in Ben David’s car. They brought the child to the hospital and waited with him until the father of the children could arrive and pick him up and be with his family. They fed him and cared for him while the mother was dealing with her injured child.
“I saw that the mother was distraught and feeling helpless. On the one hand, she needed to take care of her older son, but on the other, she wasn’t able to take the infant to the hospital and care for it properly there. Without hesitating, I told her that Shaul and I would watch the infant and bring him to the hospital until her husband could arrive. I saw how relieved she was when I said that. She thanked us profusely for our medical assistance and treatment as well as for watching her younger son. As a parent, I know how difficult a situation she was in and it was a very quick and easy decision for me to offer my help.”
President of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said: “It acts like this that show the true level of caring that our volunteers have for the people in their community. We are proud to have volunteers such as Raphi and others like him, who show just how much they care for the people they help on a daily basis, all across the country.”