Mother: I shielded my daughter from rocket
Family injured by rocket near Ofakim says they followed Home Front guidelines but got up between blasts
A couple and their baby girl were lightly wounded on Sunday afternoon by rocket shrapnel near Ofakim.
The couple immigrated to Israel from the United States and Britain out of Zionizm. "We arrived at the junction at the entrance to Ofakim," the mother recalls, "we stopped our car on the side of the road, got out and bent down as told. I protected my daughter with my body. We followed Home Front Command orders."
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The family lives in Kibbutz Shuva in the Sdot Negev Regional Council and are used to Color Red alerts. "There was one explosion when we bent down and after hearing it, we stood back up", said the mother.
"We stayed put," said the father, "but then there was another boom and I felt it very close. We also had our neighbor in the car and saw him in pretty bad condition on the floor. He asked me to help stop the bleeding from his head."
The father said that he called the emergency hotline. "I saw an ambulance in front of me and signaled it to come our way. They took me, my wife and daughter to the hospital." Asked about living under the constant threat of rockets, the father said, "You can't live in fear. If we live in fear, terror has achieved its goals," he said.
"This is still what I believe and I am staying here. We immigrated to Israel out of Zionism. I met my wife in a kibbutz and I enlisted in the Paratroopers' Brigade. We love Israel".
The wife on the other hand, said that there is no reason to stay in the area during a time of war. "We are going north to our family. We will return when things calm down. I am already anxious about the next Color Red alert. I don't see a reason for people with children to be in the area.
"We must listen to the Home Front Command orders. If we wouldn't have stopped in our tracks instead of bending down as instructed, we may have avoided being injured".
Commander of the Home Front Command's Negev District, Colonel Erez Badash (Res.) said, "It is important to follow defense procedures while driving. If you drive with open windows or listen to the silent radio station, you will hear the siren on time. When you hear the alert, stop your car and lie down on the ground with your hands over your head. These are life-saving instructions".
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