Under fire in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, with a bullet wound to his left leg, Dr. A., deputy commander of the battalion aid station (a forward medical unit) of the Paratroopers Brigade’s Battalion 101, continued issuing orders to his troops. At his side, a young medic from Nahariya named Eitan knelt beside him, calmed him, applied a tourniquet and prevented the injury from worsening. Hours later, after being evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center with the assistance of Unit 669, the two — the doctor and the medic who saved him — lay in adjacent rooms on the seventh floor of the Haifa hospital.
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Dr. A., right, who was injured in Lebanon, and the paramedic Eitan who saved his life
(Photo: Courtesy of Carmel Hospital)
“My son, the doctor, kept giving orders to the unit, with a bullet in his leg, under fire — and a young medic ran to him,” said Micha, Dr. A.’s father, his voice trembling. “He calmed him, applied a tourniquet — and that saved him. It’s truly a story of heroism: a team that heard there was an engagement ran to help the wounded, was itself hit — and my son, the doctor, under fire and with a bullet in his leg, kept commanding while receiving devoted care from the young medic. A real hero.”
Across the corridor lies Eitan from Nahariya, a soldier in Battalion 101 of the Paratroopers Brigade, with a light injury sustained in the same encounter. His father, Eliezer, completed the picture: “There was a close-range clash. They ran to assist a unit that had been wounded — and came under fire themselves. The doctor was hit, and then my son, under fire and following the wounded doctor’s instructions, applied a tourniquet exactly as he had been trained. After that, Unit 669 arrived and evacuated them to Rambam, where they are receiving excellent care.”
Arrival of wounded from the 101st Paratroopers Battalion from the incident in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, to Rambam Hospital
(Photo: Rambam Spokespersons office)
We met the two fathers in the hallway. They looked at each other for a moment, then embraced for a long time. Micha hugged Eliezer, and both smiled. “A real 'Ballad for the Medic,' said Micha, referring to an Israeli ballad written about combat medics and frequently played on Memorial Day. "True heroes in the field, under fire.”
Dr. A. is from Haifa and a graduate of the Reali School. He completed his medical studies in Bucharest and chose to do his internship at Carmel Medical Center. During his internship, the head of the surgical department, Dr. Aryeh Bitterman, recognized his exceptional talent and selected him for a residency in the department. Dr. A. has been specializing there for about eight months and, alongside meeting the demanding requirements of his training, has emerged as an innovative thinker working with the hospital’s innovation center to develop creative solutions.
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Dr. A., who was injured in Lebanon, and Chief Medical Officer Brigadier General Dr. Zivan Aviad-Bar
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Just weeks before the current round of fighting, Dr. A., together with senior staff in the department, led a unique seminar for combat medics from the Commando Brigade. At the same time, he has been serving as deputy commander of the battalion aid station of Battalion 101.
“Dr. A. is a humble and exceptional physician, beloved, with values of striving for excellence, initiative, love of people and love of the country — as can already be seen in the mark he has left at Carmel,” Bitterman said. Dr. A. is now hospitalized at Rambam, surrounded by his family, colleagues from Carmel and the Rambam staff assisting in his recovery after surgery.
Also hospitalized at Rambam in serious condition is the commander of Armored Battalion 52, a lieutenant colonel who was severely wounded in an incident in Lebanon that is currently under investigation by the IDF. He is sedated and on a ventilator. Additional paratroopers injured in the clashes in Bint Jbeil are also being treated at the hospital.