Today, 53 years ago, Aliz Noy was injured in the fighting in Jerusalem • Despite the enormous difficulty he decided not to give up and created a method to deal with the challenge: "Do not indulge, do not give up"

• Illustrative image // Photo: IDF Archives and Defense System / Yosef Levita

The Six Day War is a formative war in the history of the State of Israel. As such, there is a sense sometimes that those killed and wounded in the war are a little forgotten behind. As someone who has been wounded in the war and lost his leg, I feel privileged, on behalf of my friends and in my name, to tell a little about those days and especially the many years that followed, years of dealing physically and mentally with injury, years of rehabilitation, victory of spirit and striving for excellence.

Exactly 53 years ago, during one of the battles that took place in Jerusalem, I was injured in my legs. An injury that changed the course of my life. In the battle were four fighters from the unit, headed by Ehud, commander of the Dukhifat patrol. I was one of the three wounded in the patrol.

The incident occurred on the second day of the Six Day War. The patrol is moving at the army's brigade, and I'm in the detachment of the company. A young officer, in charge of two departments, the technical department and the young paratroopers department who have not yet completed their training. Tonight, we were moving slowly and cautiously in enemy territory, among heaps of mines which the Jordanian army hastily dispersed, in order to impede our movement. As morning continues to move, pass by the villages whose names I remember from the stories of the liberation war. Stop at the foot of Nabi Samuel, experiment with tools on unclear targets and continue to make progress.

As we move to the foothills of Tel El Paul, we encounter a Jordanian infantry compound, which advances us with annoyance and intimidation. Already in the first phase of the fighting, in the minutes when I try to ascertain who is shooting and where, I feel a strong thud on the leg that hurts me wildly. Recovering from the massive blow and discovering that I had been hit by a right leg thigh, it was only in the hospital that I found out that the riotous bullet that hit my thigh was tearing the main artery and the rapid loss of blood threatened to interrupt my young life.

At this time we were not aware of the severity of the injury. Abronzka, the medic who came to me quickly, performed a tourniquet that saved my life. During the treatment he whispers to me "Leave is okay, minor injury, nothing happened." Yigal, a friend who was close to me when I was hurt, told me after decades that he had watched me fall without a wheel, quietly pulling down his trousers and checking the area above the injury, making sure everything was fine, making sure no "essential facility" was damaged. The shooting did not stop and I was directed to the balcony of a nearby building, a protected place from the shooting.

Later in the day I applied to the TA. Due to my severe injury, the doctor urgently evacuated me to Hadassah Hospital. Two days later, my condition worsened and the doctors had to cut off my legs. Early preparation, I found myself lying in a legless hospital. The pains were immense, but, the thoughts and thoughts that came up were much more distressing. How will you treat the environment? What am I worth now? How will I get the company? Sports, how to travel, will I have to give up all of that? At that point, I was very worried about the pity of my surroundings, which is why I told my parents for a few days and didn't let them know about my injuries.

I stayed in Hadassah Hospital for two months where I went through painful, long and challenging treatments. When each challenge is used bounces to a higher threshold.

During one of his visits to the hospital, Amnon Lipkin informed me, "Hurry up already, I'm waiting for you, return to the company." For more than that I didn't need, in one sentence, Amnon answered many of the questions that plagued me and restored my self-confidence, everything else remained in my hands. After being discharged from the hospitals, despite reservations, by the trio, I returned to military activity, moved to the Intelligence Corps, and continued to serve permanently and in reserve for another 25 years.

I am often asked about the rehabilitation process I went through. The answer is the answer to the four Levites - don't pamper yourself! Do not give up ! I'm not limited! Never, have I allowed anyone to give me preferential treatment or special rights. I have denied disability and disability, set tasks and do them myself. I did not succumb to difficulties and pains, neither gave up on myself nor on my dreams. I chose to navigate the course of my life as if nothing had happened.

Practicing sports, hiking in nature for me, has been legal bread since I can remember. The thought of having to give up all these due to my injuries was impossible for me. Thirty years ago, I organized a group of great hikers, since we plowed the trails together. I have been involved in many different sports such as: swimming, table tennis, volleyball, imagine a whole volleyball team consisting of amputated legs and hands, a team that plays in a league against entire teams, and wins !! I have been skiing in the snow for many years. The memory of the friends who accompanied me, how I fall, roll and slide in the snowy, slippery mountain. And suddenly, the prosthesis hangs up and slides down the path it chooses. Of course all this didn't stop me from going to the snowy slopes the next morning and continuing to surf. For the past decade I have been involved in bicycle riding, participating in sports events and competitions as part of the IDF Disability Organization and the Fighters' House.

Dealing with the injury taught me to believe in myself and my abilities, to end the long, steep ups and downs that life invites us to. The restriction is not a reason for giving up. I learned to muster forces that I did not know existed, and did not let the physical "disability" become a "mental" disability. Dealing with the limitation, with the unending pain, gave me strengths and leveraged my abilities. I learned how to make trauma a prelude to success. Today, over fifty years into that injury, I feel complete with my path, my efforts have been successful.

The limit was defeated. And I, complete with the blanks.