{Pictured above: Hadar Bahat with Prof. Yaakov Hart at his good-bye party}



Hadar was wounded seriously in his head by shrapnel in the Maxim attack carried out by a female terrorist in October 2003. Hadar’s father Tzvika, and 19 other Israelis, including five members of each of two different families, were murdered in the bombing.



Hadar was released from Levenstein Hospital Tuesday after a lengthy rehabilitation.



Tova Bahat, Hadar's mother, feared her son would not survive his extensive wounds. She was shown on television immediately following the attack, emotionally and tearfully requesting, "He is simply fighting for his life. Therefore, the first thing I ask from everyone who hears me, is to send a prayer, everyone in his own way, that he should have the strength to overcome. He is a strong boy, and beautiful - so much like his father, and I just have to have him remain alive... I so much request from everyone to do whatever he can to request and give him the strength. This is really the most important thing now."



After a series of operations and difficult treatments, Hadar's condition improved and he was moved to the Levenstein Rehabilitation Hospital. His injury resulted in the loss of his ability to speak, but her mother refused to give up hope. "I believed in Hadar and in the strength of his will," she said. "I knew that he must continue to move forward and that we had to continue to help him with all our energy, without despair and with a lot of hope."



Slowly, after more than a year of treatment, Hadar's ability to speak began to return. It started with vague noises. "Then one day he simply said Ima (Mother) – the word I waited so long to hear him say," Tova said. Slowly Hadar regained his speech completely.



Tova spent entire days at Hadar's side, taking him to physical therapy sessions where he painstakingly learned to walk again, occupational therapy, and special classes at Levenstein. Throughout this period, his older sister Inbar, now almost 9, spent many hours without her mother.



Finally, Hadar was released from the hospital. The hospital staff held a good-bye party for him, where Tova, with a trembling voice, thanked the staff for "bringing light back into our lives after the darkness that fell upon us... To Inbar, the best sister in the world, and to Hadar with his great joy of life and his stubbornness, I am sure that your father is proud of you from above." Not an eye in the audience remained dry.



Prof. Hart said, "I am moved to be at this parting ceremony from Hadar. He arrived here in such a difficult state, without being able to walk and talk. Today, after two years of dedicated treatment by the staff of the Children's Ward at Levenstein, Hadar is going home on his own two feet, able to talk, play, learn and return to normal life. I am proud of our staff..."



(Photo: Lee Lieber)