Aharon with his father nearly a year ago
Photo: Israel Bardugo
Soldier critically wounded in Gaza becomes father
Doctors didn't think he would live, but Lt. Aharon Karov survives and becomes father to baby girl. 'This is the miracle of miracles,' his father says
A year and a half after being critically wounded during Operation Cast Lead, Lieutenant Aharon Karov became a father on Tuesday.
Karov, who returned to his unit just a few days after his wedding, is now the proud father of a baby girl, born in Mayanei Yeshua Hospital in Bnei Barak.
The excited family said that two miracles had occurred – the first, that their son Aharon survived his life-threatening wounds after the hospital staff said he did not have a chance of living, and the second, the birth of his daughter.
Aharon's father, Zeev Karov, the head of the regional high school yeshiva in Karnei Shomron, said to Ynet, "I now have six grandchildren. Every birth is a miracle, and this birth is the miracle of miracles. This, without a doubt, is life's victory over hardship."
Karov, a platoon commander in Battalion 890, was dispatched to the Gaza Strip the day after his wedding. He fought alongside the paratroopers operating in the northern Strip. He was injured on January 13 when the force under his command entered a booby-trapped house.
Ever since his injury, in which he was hit by more than 300 shards of shrapnel, Karov's condition improved dramatically, and even started going home on occasion as part of his recovery.
In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth in December, Karov recalled the moment he was injured. "We were behind the house, and we needed to go up to the second floor. I told the company commander to continue on, and I would go up. I go up four stairs and then go straight, left, and then reach a door. I stand in front of it.
"My signaler, Nehemia Rubin, is back-to-back with me, and then there was a blast. The explosive was above us. It still is not clear how it was activated. Because it was above us, the head, eyes, nose, and mouth were injured. The entire floor above us collapsed, and I flew into the wall and was buried in the rubble. Nehemia, luckily, fell all the way down the steps. He was laden with explosives, and miraculously did not explode.
"The company commander and the deputy company commander rescued me. They just grabbed my hand and pulled. There was nothing else that could be done," recounted Karov.
