Mother of girl hurt in Samaria recounts attack

Adva Biton, whose three-year-old daughter Adele is hospitalized in critical condition following accident caused by stone-throwing, says 'I just want my child with me'

Yaron Kelner |Published: 03.15.13 , 18:10

"I want my child with me, she's just three years old. She hasn't done anything wrong to anyone," Adva Biton, 32, said Friday while her daughter, Adele, was still hospitalized in critical condition at the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

Biton and her three daughters were travelling on Route 5 in Samaria on Thursday evening when their car collided with a truck forced to divert from its lane due to stones hurled by Palestinians.

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Little Adele was critically injured in the accident. Her mother and two sisters sustained moderate wounds.

"I remember everything," Adva Biton recalled Friday. "We were at my mother's house for an hour and a half. After we left, about 100-200 meters from Ariel, I saw a truck in front of me. Within one second I heard a boom. Everything turned dark, I couldn't see a thing.

"The truck was hit by the first barrage of stones and was forced to brake. I found myself under it. When I was below the vehicle I couldn’t move any part of my body except the hand. I used it to hold my daughter's head up, hoping that by keeping an open airway I'll be able to save her."

Adele underwent surgery in her head on Thursday night, followed by another operation. She is still fighting for her life. Her mother asked people to pray for her.

"I'm asking everyone, no matter if you're an observant person or not, to try to do something small for her. She is just a little baby. I would take her place now if I could. It's very difficult for me to see my little girl like this, naked, injured, bandaged, without being able to hug her.

"I thank God for leaving me and my precious daughters, Avigail and Naama, alive with superficial injuries. That's the bright side. I'll thank him for every decision he makes in regards to my Adele, and I believe he'll give us the option to have her back."

She turned to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and asked that he help her and other citizens stay safe. "I believe in that and I hope no other family has to suffer like me. It's unthinkable that at 6 pm, on a main and illuminated road, people shamelessly try to murder small children."

Four-year-old Avigail Biton was transferred overnight from the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer to the Schneider Children's Medical Center in order to be close to the rest of her family.

Dr. Efrat Baron-Harlev, deputy director of the Schneider Children's Medical Center and a senior physician at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, said: "We have three girls hospitalized here. The smallest one is in intensive care with a serious head injury. We hope she will recover, but we can't tell. The other two are in the surgical ward and are doing okay."

Addressing the family's situation, she said: "It's a very difficult thing to deal with. The father is the only one who is safe and sound. The mother was hospitalized at the Beilinson hospital but is at Schneider most of the time."

Minutes before the attack, a driver documented an incident involving stones thrown at his car. Knesset Member Orit Struk (Habayit Hayehudi) said in response that the security forces must address the documented incident as a terror attack as well despite the fact that there were no injuries and "make every effort" to locate the terrorists and put them on trial.

"We must not wait for additional victims in order to eradicate nationalistically-motivated crimes on the roads of Judea and Samaria," she said.