Yesterday, I witnessed a horrible tragedy on the road.
Gitty and I decided to take our children and grandson up North. We were driving with my son Yisrael, daughter, and son-in-law Penina and Uri, and baby Gabby on our way to Tiberias when we received a notification on the Hatzalah app that there was an accident a mile away from our location.
We arrived at the scene within 3 minutes and saw a car in terrible condition. We all jumped into action, trying to help whoever we could. The driver and father of the family was in critical condition, and his 17-year-old daughter was conscious but very badly hurt and in a lot of pain. Two other children were also in the car, a young boy who was trying to save his father and a 2-year-old who was thankfully ok still in the car seat but needed to be treated.
Gitty and I began CPR and compressions on the driver, and only then I realized that this severely injured man was my good friend Chaim HarKesef. My son-in-law Uri was treating the 17-year-old daughter, and several other United Hatzalah volunteers arrived and helped with treating all 3 patients.
Upon the arrival of Chaim’s wife and children at the scene of the accident- they were also traveling, but in a separate car - my daughter Penina stayed with them and helped them cope while my son Yisrael went to help clean up and move everything from the crashed car to Chaim’s wife’s car.
We worked hard to save Chaim for almost 30 minutes until the ambulance arrived and transported him to the hospital. Traffic was horrendous, and the entire road was blocked. We did everything we possibly could to save him, including shocking with a defibrillator, resuscitation, and advanced life support, but sadly, Chaim did not make it.
We escorted his children to a nearby Hatzalah center in Yokneam, where our psychotrauma volunteers met them to help them process the devastating news. Their uncle picked them up and brought them back to Jerusalem where Chaim Z”L is being buried tonight.
Chaim was an incredibly special person who I knew for 28 years. He was a volunteer medic and a great friend who always had a smile on his face. He was devoted to saving people’s lives, and it breaks my heart that we could not save him.
I am so proud of my family for their professionalism and am beyond grateful for all of the United Hatzalah volunteers who are everywhere in the country and always available with their equipment to stop and assist in emergencies, even on their way to vacation.
This accident was one of many that occurred yesterday. Let’s stay safe!
Eli Beer is the founder and president of United Hatzalah of Israel.