Family wounded in attack: We won't return to Turkey
Elav family members, some of whom were hospitalized in Jerusalem hospital after being injured in terror attack in Antalya, say 'there are enough countries in world to visit besides Turkey.' Mordechai, father of family, explains why they hurried back for treatment in Israel: 'Hospital was dirty, dilapidated. They gave my wife shots without anesthesia'
Mordechai Elav, who was wounded along with his family members in a terror attack in Antalya, Turkey, said Tuesday: "A terrorist attack like this could have caught us in Israel too, but here we would have been confident that the system will take care of us. Turkey is one big chaos. It isn't even third world."
His daughter, Moran, is even more emphatic: "I will never go back there after what we have been through. The only thing I thought of all the time was when I am going to return to Israel."
The Elav family - safe at home in Hadassah Ein Kerem (Photo: Dudi Vaaknin)
The Elav family, Mordechai, Miriam, Moran, and Meitar, landed in Israel early Tuesday morning and were hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, with light shrapnel wounds. Last Thursday, the family took off for a family vacation in that was in the planning since August, but was delayed because of the war.
Mordechai describes what happened: "A pastoral vacation was cut short in one moment, only a few hours before we were supposed to fly back to Israel. We had a few hours until our flight and we decided to go to the Old City to eat. When we were standing at the crosswalk, only a few meters away from the McDonald's we were going to eat at, all of a sudden a huge explosion was heard, and after it a flash of light and thick smoke. I had no doubt it was a terrorist attack. I grabbed my daughters and started to run."
According to the family, they waited together with the other injured for more than a half an hour because the ambulances didn't arrive right away. Policemen who arrived on site asked private cars that they stopped on the side of the road to evacuate the injured, but the family refused.
Mordechai: "We weren't about to be evacuated in civilian cars. Go figure whom you are dealing with, who is taking you and where. Even the tour guide from the airline called us and told us not to go to a certain hospital in Antalya. We were very suspicious."
Mordechai said that he understood very quickly that the treatment by the Turkish health authorities was likely to cost him his health and the health of his family. He recounted, "I saw a cut on Miriam's hand and I was afraid that if I didn't take care of it myself, the doctors would sew her up without taking the shrapnel out, so I took it out. Afterwards, they started sewing her up without any anesthetic. She started screaming in pain. Later, they wanted to give us shots, but we didn't agree until they promised us it's tetanus."
He added, "A hospital in Turkey isn't Israel. It's dirty and dilapidated with all the medicines thrown around in the hallway."
Turkish police: Just don't sue
In the evening, Turkish policemen arrived at the hospital and asked the family to come with them to the station to give their testimonies.
Moran: "I told the police officers – my mother is wounded. It's best that she stay here and we come with you, but they refused." Mordechai: "All they wanted was for us to sign a form saying we wouldn't sue them."
A short time after their arrival at the hospital, the Israeli embassy entered the picture. That same evening, they flew back to Israel for medical treatment.
Mordechai rolls up his sleeve to show an old scar on the top of his arm. "I was injured by shrapnel in the Yom Kippur War in the exact same place my wife was hurt Monday. Fate had it that we would have a scar in the same spot. I am lucky that we are all healthy here in Israel."
