An IDF soldier who was fatally wounded when a weapon apparently misfired at a military base last week has had his lungs donated to a coronavirus patient.
Staff Sgt. Yonatan Granot, 22, passed away Friday and was laid to rest Sunday at Kibbutz Einat in central Israel. Granot, who was an organ donor, had five recipients after his death.
The young soldier was survived by his mother and brother, who allowed his lungs to be transplanted in a patient suffering from COVID-19 at Sheba Medical Center in the first operation of its kind in Israel.
Granot was critically wounded when he was shot by the weapon that an inquiry showed had not been properly unloaded after target practice.
The wounded soldier was found at around 10pm last Tuesday by comrades in a relatively secluded area of the base.
He was lying on the ground suffering from head injuries initially believed to have been caused by stones thrown at him. A preliminary investigation later showed that he was hit by an IDF bullet.
The soldier was taken to Hadassah Medical Center, Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. He was rushed into surgery, where it was discovered that his wounds had been caused by gunfire.
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Sheba Medical Center staff with the COVID-19 patient who received Yonatan Granot's lungs
The initial investigation showed that the base had been used for training by troops preparing for operational deployment in the Gaza Division.
After the troops had finished using the shooting range, the platoon commander unloaded their weapons and placed them near the company guard's position.
A commanding officer then picked up one of the weapons, and randomly pointed it at the area where the soldier was walking with a comrade.
A bullet apparently discharged and hit the soldier in the head, causing him to collapse and lose consciousness.
GOC Southern Command, Gen. Herzi Halevi, appointed a team of experts headed by the commander of the Harel Brigade, Col. Elad Schwartz, to fully investigate the circumstances of the incident.
The team will look into the events leading up to the incident, the safety norms in the unit, and how the incident was subsequently handled.
The team will also check the routine conduct of the entire military when it comes to handling weapons.