"Loved being in the Army": The soldier hit by lightning during training in the north regained consciousness

The 19-year-old's father said his son wanted to enlist in combat service and serve in Golani, and rushed to the hospital when he heard about the lightning strike. The soldier's teacher, who described him as "a gentle, considerate and sensitive boy," also arrived. His condition improved and he returned to breathing on his own

"Loved being in the Army": The soldier hit by lightning during training in the north regained consciousness

"He loved being in the military," said the 19-year-old father of the 19-year-old soldier who was seriously injured yesterday by lightning strikes during training in the north of the country. The father described that the family immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in 2007 and his son wanted to enlist in the IDF, wanted to be combat and serve in the Golani. "At 04:00, they let me see him, wearing his hand and other parts of his body," he said. Treat him like a family member and I thank them. "

The Rambam Hospital in Haifa has improved the fighter's condition. The medical team said he regained consciousness, responds to the environment and even returned to breathing on his own. The hospital's intensive care manager, Dr. Yaron Bar-Lavi, explained that
"The lightning strike didn't hurt him directly." According to Bar-Lavi, "If the lightning directly hit him, he would have been blown or burned completely. He damaged his environment. The power of the lightning electrifies a huge area because the soil is wet and the air is wet. Then he is hit by lightning but not directly. "There was no cardiac arrest, there was a break in the breath, there was a loss of consciousness and as far as I understand he did not have a heart massage, so the result will probably be good. But lightning that also hits 10 meters from someone and even 50 meters, probably electrifies him."

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"Treat him like a family member." Rambam Hospital (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

Rambam Hospital in Haifa (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

The soldier, a resident of Ayesh, stayed there as part of the training course not far from the Golani Brigade training base in the rugby. When they heard about the lightning strike, many of his relatives came to Rambam Hospital. "We have known him since he was a little boy," one of them said. "We came to the hospital to visit him."

At the hospital, he underwent a series of tests and was deprived of vital organ damage. No heart injury was found that is typical of lightning, it does not suffer from burns, and is euthanized to allow it rest for recovery.

Eli Briga, his math teacher over the years who studied in the "Indian" religious youth village near Tiberias, came from his home in the Kiryat Shmuel neighborhood when he heard about the hospitalization of the former student at Rambam. He said that "this is a gentle boy, a very polite boy, a very thoughtful boy Sensitive to his environment, a really wonderful boy. I was with them for a home visit to the Ben Gurion when he attended the school with us and they were very happy when educators visited the house. These are lovely people, both he and his sister.

The 19-year-old was seriously injured by lightning: a Golan soldier who was navigating an area

The warrior does not suffer from burns, anesthesia and breathing. The lightning strike scene, yesterday (Photo: MDA Operation Documentation)

A young man who was hit by a lightning strike in an open area in the area of ​​the Magistrate Ramat Magiddo Regional Council, December 8, 2019 (Photo: MDA Operation Documentation, MDA)

To Walla! NEWS learned that the soldiers were navigating the field as part of their training course, along with another soldier. A member of the unit said that within two minutes of the moment the lightning struck, the other members reached them. According to him, an evacuation vehicle that was waiting near the scene transferred him to the MDA satellite called to the point between the judge's eye and the judge's level.

"This is an unimaginable event," the source said in detail. "It happens one in a million." Nevertheless, the relatives of the injured soldier found it difficult to get the explanations tonight. "I don't see why they were taken out in such weather. It's so stupid," said a family member. Tomorrow, a unit of inquiry will be conducted with the participation of the company commander.