We met Staff Sergeant N. (21), a soldier from the Oketz K-9 commando unit from Tzur Yigal, in the long corridor at the Rehabilitation Medical Center in Ra'anana. He moves sometimes in a wheelchair and sometimes with crutches. N. was wounded by shrapnel in his leg in an encounter with terrorists in Khan Younis when his squad tried to take over a building in which terrorists were in hiding. N. sent Ziggy to scan the area, which proved to be a life-saving decision for the soldier. Two terrorists shot Ziggy to death and five soldiers, including N. were injured. The K-9 unit now waits for N. to be able to stand up on his feet to lay Ziggy to rest.
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"I am hospitalized in the orthopedic department, suffering from a problem with my knee, which received a terrible blow from shrapnel. I got a lot of shrapnel on my left side from live fire, but you see I am making progress here in the rehabilitation center, and I really miss my dog Ziggy, who was with me from a very young age," recalled Staff Sergeant N. "He was with us for a year and a half until he was killed, saving me as well as five other Oketz paratrooper soldiers who were injured in the incident at the beginning of the month in Khan Younis."
He recounts the fighting, up until the dramatic moment. "I remember exactly what happened - I entered the house with the 101st Battalion of paratrooper and engineering soldiers. We scanned the first floor, I insisted that my devoted dog Ziggy also do a scan on the second floor of the residence. As soon as he came down the staircase of the house in Khan Younis, the terrorists shot at him, and Ziggy was killed on the spot. He saved my life and the lives of six other soldiers who were in the building.
"The force continued to shoot at the terrorists, who shot at us from a very close range. I immediately understood that if Ziggy the dog had not gone down the stairs, the terrorists would have eliminated us immediately. My heroic and beloved dog Ziggy, who was close to me for a year and a half, saved my life and the lives of the other soldiers. Thanks to him I'm sitting here and talking to you," according to N.
While he is in physical therapy and fighting for his rehabilitation, N. adds excitedly: "I managed to treat one wounded person next to me; I was covered with shrapnel all over my left side, and my knee also received a lot of shrapnel. I underwent a complex operation, I move around with a wheelchair and crutches. I have a long process of rehabilitation ahead of me and I'm working hard to be able to stand on my feet."
Ziggy's body was taken back to Israel and is being taken care of until N. gets back on his feet, and then he will be brought to the cemetery for the hero dogs of the Oketz K-9 Unit. "I have great love for him, I miss him very much. I hope I will recover soon and then I will come with the friends he saved and bring my hero dog to rest," says N. "I was supposed to start my officer course now, but my complex injury forces me to undergo rehabilitation instead. I will get back on my feet, bury my beloved dog Ziggy in the unit's cemetery and, of course, I will return to our amazing unit."
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Ziggy was sent to scan the building for terrorists and never came back
(Photo: Family album)
Tamar Elnatan, a physiotherapist in the orthopedic rehabilitation department at the Lewinstein Center, takes care of N. She bandages his legs and performs exercises with him. "N. is already in the middle of his process with the medical teams here, and he still has a long road to rehabilitation. He underwent complex surgery on his knee and he moves slowly with crutches. With hard work, N. will eventually stand on his own legs."
Dr. Amir Haim, director of the biomechanical rehabilitation unit and a senior physician in the orthopedic rehabilitation department, says that currently there are about 70 wounded in the hospital, 57 soldiers and the rest civilians.
"The vast majority of them suffer from limb injuries. Some are undergoing complex surgeries, some are amputees, young men ages 19-20 who went out to fight and returned without legs. All of us here assist them closely with multi-professional medical teams alongside long-term rehabilitation. They took a lot of shrapnel, there are also head and spine injuries. The rehabilitation processes are very long after complex surgeries. It is definitely a very complex time to receive so many wounded soldiers here."
The orthopedic treatment department is quite busy. Capt. (res.) A. from the counterterrorism unit tried to perform exercises on the ladder and the road to recovery is still long. A, 27, from Ganot Hadar, works as a shooting instructor at IMI Systems. "We entered Shijaiyah at the beginning of December. On our second day there, we were in a complex operation. We scanned a school after first analyzing its structure,": he explains.
"We entered the building with the help of engineering forces who opened a passage for us while tanks covered us. They finished scanning one of the three floors. There were assault holes, where several terrorists were waiting for us in a planned ambush. There was also an underground tunnel leading to a mosque. The terrorists threw grenades at us. I fell from the shock wave and injured my arm and leg. I continued to fight until a tank of the 74th Battalion arrived and identified our position."
A. was treated by the paramedics of the 74th battalion in the APC, headed to Nahal Oz and from there he was taken by a search-and rescue unit helicopter to Soroka Hospital. On the way he lost a lot of blood. However, the doctors at the hospital said how the quick and professional treatment he received from the field paramedics was helpful.
"I injured my hand and my leg. Right now the leg is the problem, I'm moving slowly with it. I expect a long rehabilitation process and hard work here on the exercises of the orthopedic department. I have to keep working hard so that my leg will slowly progress," according to A.