A volunteer emergency first responder was killed in a traffic accident Thursday, marking the third tragedy for his family.
Yoel Souisa, a 44-year-old Dimonah resident and volunteer with the United Hatzalah organization, died in a car crash on Route 25 in the Negev, the group announced Thursday evening.
Yoel was United Hatzalah's ambucycle unit and was critically injured while he was driving home on his ambucycle just after 4:00 p.m. Thursday.
He later died of his injuries in the hospital.
"The entire United Hatzalah family, the volunteers together with the management, are devastated by this tragic and untimely loss. We all share in the pain of the Souisa family," the group said in a statement.
"Yoel was a true friend, a loving father, and husband, and a dedicated volunteer who saved the lives of many other people. He was a symbol of dedication, volunteering, and selflessness. He would give of himself and his time, day and night, in order to help anyone around him. "
United Hatzalah founder and president Eli Beer noted that Souisa's father and brother both died under tragic circumstances.
"This is the third tragedy for this family. Yoel's father was killed in the terror attack that shook Dimona in 2008, and his brother was killed in the Carmel fires in 2010. I have been with the family in the hospital all evening and the pain that we all feel is unbearable."
"Yoel lost his life due to the 'terror' on the roads that is taking place here in the Negev. People drive here without attention to the law and the level of enforcement needs to be raised significantly."
"Today this lawlessness, which has become commonplace in the south, claimed the life of a father, a husband, and one of our dear volunteers, who was one of the most active first responders in the region."
"Yoel regularly responded to 60 or more medical emergencies on a monthly basis and has saved countless lives. Another family was destroyed today because of this lawlessness on the roads and it needs to end."