Ayelet was seriously injured while walking with her children in Ganei Yehoshua and a branch of eucalyptus fell on her. • Today she is moving in a wheelchair, and is filing a lawsuit against Ganei Yehoshua and the Tel Aviv Municipality.

Once, before the disaster, Ayelet would get up in the morning with her husband Tal. They would go to Alma and Assaf's beds, wake them up with kisses and prepare breakfast for them. Then Ayelet would take them to kindergarten and school, with little Alex, who had just been born.

Once upon a time, before the disaster, it was an ordinary family. Happy. Until one branch of an eucalyptus tree, which fell on Ayelet while hiking in Ganei Yehoshua Park two and three months ago, ruined her life and the lives of her family.

Today, Ayelet Kemer Erez (43) is sitting in a wheelchair, which has become part of her. She suffers from almost incessant pain, and her previous life seems like a distant memory, fading as time goes on.

We meet in the morning in their rented apartment in the Bavli neighborhood of Tel Aviv. They moved here when Ayelet was in rehabilitation at Sheba Hospital. Tal (39) opens the door. Ayelet waits in the living room, smiles shyly. Her eyes are sad. This class is foreign to her, she is not used to being exposed, and yet she chose to speak to prevent the next disaster.

The house is neatly arranged. Alma (10) and Assaf (7) are at the school. Alex, 3, in kindergarten. All the children's toys are on low shelves, which are attached to the wall in the living room.

"The aisles must remain free, so that Ayelet can move around in a chair without encountering obstacles," Tal explains. "Even so, there are two rooms in the house that she cannot enter, because they are too narrow and the chair does not pass through the doorway."

Occasionally, when Ayelet feels the sharp pain that pierces her lower back and radiates towards the paralyzed legs, she takes the chair handles in her hands and pulls herself up, as if sitting for a moment in the air. As the pain subsides, she releases the grip and returns to sitting.

"When I was injured, we lived in another apartment in the neighborhood," she says, "but we had to move so I could be as mobile as possible in the house. Tal searched a lot, and this is the only apartment he found. The landlady agreed to make it a slight renovation. "Until I move to an accessible apartment, where the wheelchair can enter the children's bedroom and their bathroom, I will not be able to shower them or put them to bed. It is a difficult feeling."

She was a very active and athletic girl. She danced ballet, and then switched to ground and apparatus gymnastics. In high school she danced in a dance troupe. Love hiking in nature, guiding scouts. Before the army she managed to take a diving course.

She served as a clerk in the Air Force, and after her release flew for a year trip to South America and the United States. In 2001 she began studying architecture at Bezalel. She met Tal Erez in 2005, towards the end of her studies. They married in 2008 and moved to the Netherlands to study for a degree. Tal's second in design, where their eldest daughter Alma was born.

When they returned to Israel, they rented an apartment in the Bavli neighborhood. "The neighborhood most reminded us of the Netherlands," says Ayelet, "even there we had a river and a park near the house. But when we settled in Babylon, we did not know where this park would take us."

Until the injury they used to go every year for vacations with the children abroad and in the country. “Once we went to Italy and once to Greece. During the Passover holiday we would travel for four days to the north, and in the summer we spent a lot at sea. Between all the work and the kids I would go to yoga and Pilates class at least twice a week so life was packed with every good thing. "Our dream was to continue living the good life and raising the children with love, but apparently someone had other plans, and he landed them on us without any prior preparation."

It happened on April 19, 2018, Independence Day. Tal, a product designer and exhibition curator by profession, was in Milan at work at the time, and Ayelet invited her sisters Nira and Anat to watch an Air Force flight in the Tel Aviv port together.

"I had a week of celebrations. On Sunday I went back to work, after a six-month maternity leave. Alex went into daycare. On Tuesday I celebrated my 41st birthday. The highlight of the week was supposed to be the Mets. On Independence Day we always used to do on fire with my parents or with parents. Of Tal, so we never got to see the Mets.

"This time I decided I was taking the opportunity that Tal was gone. I invited my sisters, Nira and Anat, we all went to the port with the families and watched the Mets. There was a sense of elation.

"After the flight was over Assaf was tired, and we decided to go home. I bought the kids soap bubble guns to keep them on the road, and Nira and I started walking towards the house. At one point I took Alex off the carrier and gave it to Nira, so she could move faster towards the house. There was huge luck.

"I kept walking at a slower pace with Alma and Assaf. Near Kosovsky Street 4, near the bridge, right on the path near the playground, I suddenly heard a loud noise of something cracking. I do not know if I realized it was the noise of a collapsing branch, but out of instinct I shouted at The kids run away.

"The next thing I remember is when I woke up on the sidewalk, and there was a crazy commotion around me. Suddenly I caught out of the corner of my eye someone I knew from the neighborhood and shouted at her, 'Where are the kids, where are the kids?'

"Later it became clear to me that my sister, who was walking a few meters in front of me, heard the fall, which sounded like an explosion of an attack, and immediately came back to me with Alex. She also found the children and immediately drove them away. She waited there until the ambulance arrived. In fact, because of the eye fracture I did not see "And until they let me talk to them the next day, I did not believe they were alive."

The branch that collapsed on Ayelet and crushed it under it was large and heavy. Passers-by picked him up.

"I felt like I couldn't move my legs," she recalls, "but all I cared about was the kids. I kept shouting at them. Most of the time I was conscious. Because of the traffic jams it was difficult for the ambulance to get there. It only arrived after a quarter of an hour."

Ayelet was evacuated to Ichilov Hospital, suffering from 11 broken ribs, pelvic crises, orbital crisis, lung punctures and liver and spleen tears. She was immediately transferred to the intensive care unit. The doctors' biggest concern was that the healthy holes would cause them to collapse. Ayelet was connected to the ventilator, and drains were inserted into the lungs to drain the fluids. The severity of the fracture in the back will only become clear later.

At that time Tal was sitting and listening to a lecture in Milan. When his brother called, he did not answer. "I told myself I would come back to him after the lecture. After a few minutes he rang again, and I did not answer again. Then he sent a message: 'Fell on a wooden doe, come back.'

"I looked at the message, and still could not understand the severity of the situation. Two percent of the phone's battery remained. I left the lecture, ran to look for a charger, and at that moment my mother called. She told me he fell on a wooden doe and was injured, her ribs were broken. Then I called my brother. , And he said the same thing.They did not say she was life-threatening.

"At first I thought something terrible had happened, and they were just making me jump. After a few minutes I started to think she was dead, and that they did not want to tell me on the phone. I immediately booked a plane ticket."

Tal landed in Israel at 2 in the morning. His brother waited for him at the airport and took him directly to the hospital.

"I went into intensive care, and when I saw Ayelet, I was shocked. She was fully conscious, connected to the tubes, it was a sight I was not preparing for. I looked at her, and my eyes filled with tears. She turned to me in a weak voice and said, 'Do not cry.' .

"In the morning, Dr. Adi Nimrod, the director of the intensive care unit, called me. He showed me the CT scan of Ayelet and said that they see a complete discharge of the spine and a tear in the spinal cord, and that she will not be able to walk anymore. In the photo of her spine it looks like a pencil that was broken in half.

"I burst into tears. When I calmed down a bit, he asked if I wanted him to come with me to tell Ayelet. We went to her together."

Ayelet: "When I saw Tal and the doctor, I had a bad feeling. The doctor said I had a complete amputation of my spine, and that I could not walk anymore."

What's going through your mind right now?

"All I cared about was if I was in danger of death. The doctor said no, and I calmed down. Inside I told myself that as long as I was alive, there was still a chance. I could still be that with the story of one in a million. I thought so, it gave me a glimmer of hope. In those moments.

"From that moment on, every time the doctors would come into my room and run my hand over my legs, I would close my eyes and try hard to feel the touch. And each time again it was discouraging."

Ayelet and Tal's children were with his mother and sister at the time. They did not know at all that their father had returned to Israel.

"In the morning I went from the hospital to buy them Lego, because I did not have time to buy them abroad. They were very happy to see me. I gave them the presents, collected them for myself and told them that Mom was injured from the industry, and that she would have to be in the hospital for a long time. I said I still do not know if Mom's legs will be okay.

"Alma was then 8 years old, and Assaf was 5. They did not know how to digest what I told and asked all sorts of questions, like when would Mom come home, and if she would have a wheelchair. Alma said she had once seen a woman in a wheelchair.

"They asked to see Ayelet, and I explained to them that it was impossible at the moment. After a few days, when her condition stabilized, I took them to her."

Ayelet: "I was so happy to see them, but I had excruciating pain in my ribs. Alma and Assaf climbed on the bed, and I hugged them for a few seconds, despite the pain."

After two weeks of intensive care and spinal fixation surgery, Ayelet was transferred to the Department of Neurological Rehabilitation at Sheba Hospital. She was hospitalized there for ten days, and then an infection developed in the area of ​​the operation, which necessitated her return to Ichilov for two more operations. She spent two weeks in the neurosurgery ward, and another two weeks in the plastic surgery ward, then returned to the rehabilitation ward at Sheba Hospital. Only then did she begin the difficult process of rehabilitation, which would last six months, during which she would realize for the first time that she would never be able to walk again.

"During the hospitalization in Ichilov, there were people around me all day, and I couldn't really think about it. It was only when I got to rehab and I was alone that the token fell on me. I remember sitting and crying my soul out."

The longing for children was severe. When they came to visit, Ayelet felt she was losing her place in their lives.

"In one moment I stopped being present in their lives. For the first few months the house was full of other people who cared for them. The amazing community in the neighborhood did not leave Tal alone for a moment and help him with food and child care. But in the end, it did not compensate the children for my lack. Every night I talked to Assaf on the phone, and in every conversation he asked when I was coming home. To this day he does not like having people in the house. Alma suppressed everything, she does not talk much about what happened.

"To try to give them as much time as possible, once a week each of them would come to Tel Hashomer to be with me for an hour, and that's how we created a certain routine. Alma really loved that we draw together, with Assaf I would eat McDonald's, and Alex I would apply creams.

"With her it was the hardest, because I disappeared from her for eight months, after the whole six months before that I was close to her all the time. With her I felt most like I was losing my place as a mother, and it continues to this day in small things that tear me from the inside. For example, when she wakes up "At night, she reads 'Daddy,' not 'Mom.' When she was a baby looking for comfort, she asked for her aunt, not me. I missed a lot of her development."

On December 7, 2018, eight months after the accident, Ayelet returned home and began rebuilding her life.

"In fact, the rehabilitation has not been completed to this day. Even now I travel to Tel Hashomer one day a week, for treatments. In between I try to work a little from home, but it is difficult for me to work a lot continuously, and I am far from being independent. "A few hours. It makes it very easy for me and also for Tal. I hope that in time I will be able to do more."

Do you allow yourself to be broken?

"It's hard for me to share my pain. I can hold the frustration inside me long before anyone feels it. I feel like I'm holding a tower of cards, and if I fall, everyone will fall. So, instead of lying in bed, I make sure to be as moving as possible at home and with the kids. ".

Tal: "Ayelet was always perceived by me as gentle and fragile, and when she was injured, I did not know how she would cope. But she was a huge surprise. One of the amazing things I discovered about her during this period is that she has insane strength and resilience. I lean on her a lot. I'm falling".

Ayelet: "At first I had a recurring dream, in which I manage to stand and move my knees, but can't walk. I would wake up in frustration and not understand what was wrong. Today I no longer dream about it."

The chores at home fall on Tal?

"More than 80 percent of the chores and childcare. He gets up in the morning with the kids, makes them breakfast and sandwiches for school and takes them. In the evening he is the one who prepares the meal and takes the showers. When Alex was smaller, he also got up for her at night. "In between, he tries to keep working and developing himself. I have feelings of guilt that I dropped everything on him."

Are you leaving the house?

"Now I started going out on my own, but only after learning the whole route that I had to go well: I learned where there is a protruding stone on the sidewalk and where I have to be careful not to fall. Sometimes I go out and suddenly come across a vehicle parked on the sidewalk, "Garbage left outside. There were cases where I fell, and passers-by had to pick me up. I have a hard time with that. I will soon have a vehicle accessible to the disabled, so I believe I will drive again. It is difficult for me that I am no longer as independent as I used to be."

Tal points the finger of blame at the management of Ganei Yehoshua Park, whose job it is to take care of the park's safety, and at the Tel Aviv Municipality, whose park is located in its territory. "At first I thought the story of Ayelet's injury was immoral, that it was bad luck, that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But four months after the incident I posted a Facebook post asking people who fell on a branch in the park to contact me. Next to them, and miraculously unharmed, someone wrote to me that four months after Ayelet's injury he was walking in the park with the dog, and suddenly heard the sound of something cracking.

"That month one woman came with her partner for a photo shoot in the northern part of the park, on their wedding day. They suddenly heard a loud noise, and a large branch landed right next to her leg. She even sent us a picture of herself in the wedding dress, with the branch falling next to her.

"As the cases piled up for me, that's how I realized that everything was paratroop. And it breaks my heart. I have no doubt that Ayelet's case could have been avoided if only the park management had done the work. According to the cases I collected, there were countless warning signs."

Ayelet: "It is a huge park, with a lot of trees, which are constantly surrounded by many children and families. It is marketed as a safe and pleasant place, but in practice any passage under the trees can be a death trap. My anger is towards those who had to take care of the park. "But choose to neglect. This is human life. How can the lesson not be learned, and not a month go by without hearing about another case of a branch collapse, which only miraculously ended without casualties?"

Ayelet is currently filing a tort claim against Ganei Yehoshua Ltd. and the Tel Aviv Municipality, through Adv. Amikam Harlap and Adv. Michael Elnatan of the firm of Amikam Harlap & Co. According to Harlap, eucalyptus trees are unexpected trees , And therefore dangerous. "After Ayelet's case, we checked with professionals how it is possible for a branch to fall just like that, and if it could have been prevented. We came across an article published in the JNF's online newspaper in November 2011, which explicitly states that eucalyptus is a tree that tends to break branches, even if completely healthy. . It was rated at a hazard level of 9 out of 10 - which should have lit a red light for anyone responsible for park safety. "If those in charge had taken care of the trees ahead of time and did not allow the branches to collapse spontaneously, Ayelet and Tal could have continued in their lives, just as they had dreamed."

Advocate Elnatan says that the day after the incident, even before it was possible to talk to Ayelet about the circumstances, the park management evacuated the industry. "This raises questions. Do you think it makes sense that in the event of an accident, they would touch the scene and remove key evidence from it? That day the park management also rushed to carry out massive pruning work on the tree.

"I would expect them to take Ayelet's case and study it in depth. They will investigate why the branch fell, examine the cutting area. From a photo taken by a passerby you can see the branch, and you can see that it was apparently pruned in the middle. From inquiries I made. "And in the middle of regretting and leaving the industry, I have no idea why. The whole conduct of the park management seems negligent."

The police did not investigate the case?

"Until now, no one from the police has contacted Ayelet, so if there was an investigation, it was done without talking to the victim. It seems delusional to me. After all, if she had been killed, no one would have moved on. Last year a similar incident happened in Lachish Park. "Which ended in the death of a 9-year-old boy, and the police investigated. Fate wanted it and Ayelet 'only' remained disabled for life. Imagine that tomorrow a branch would fall and kill another child. What will the police say?"

Advocate Harlap: "Five months after the incident, we contacted Ganei Yehoshua, and in the name of freedom of information, we asked them to disclose all the inquiries received by citizens about the collapse of branches in the park. The data we received showed a bleak picture of more than ten documented cases. To Tal after the post was published.

"After the incident, Ganei Yehoshua sent its safety engineer to investigate his own negligence. He wrote in the report: 'This is an unexpected tree, so the collapse could not have been prevented.' You admit that these are unexpected trees, so why did you not take care of them to prevent the collapse of branches as much as possible? "

Ayelet: "None of the officials of the park and the municipality talk to us. No one has shown that he takes responsibility. The mentality they demonstrated throughout the event is a mentality of plasters, of 'it will be okay'. When you understand that this mentality is at the systemic level, it hurts "Especially when you're the one who has to stay in a wheelchair." 

Comments:

 "The fall of the industry could not have been expected"

Ganei Yehoshua said: "We regret the injury to Ms. Kemer. Immediately after the accident, the company's safety engineer conducted a professional investigation, which concluded: 'During the day-to-day operation of the park, the said actions were taken to prevent accidents from falling trees. It was not possible to anticipate the fall of the industry that caused the accident. '

"Regarding the additional allegations: the procedure is to be investigated by the company's safety engineer. This is how a responsible body acts, and this is how we acted. The engineer should not criticize himself, but check the incident, the tree surveys that preceded him, draw conclusions and make recommendations, as done. Eucalyptus trees are planted in many parks, as well as in Ganei Yehoshua Park. During the ongoing care of the trees, pruning is initiated and all the trees are inspected, as also appears in the investigation. Tying all the branches of all the trees in clusters is an impractical operation. Required by the authorities or experts to speak.

"Naturally, there are inquiries about pruning the trees in the park, and any inquiries are dealt with immediately. Therefore, preliminary actions are taken to prevent the collapse of large branches, as a matter of routine. We do not know about pruning procedure stopped in the middle. This procedure is done by professionals and supervised. By an external pruning contractor, licensed to engage in it.We reject the claim as if the industry involved in the incident was in the middle of a pruning procedure.

"Our company evacuated the industry immediately after the incident, as should be done to prevent disruption to park users, and since there was no reason not to do so. As we would not do so, people would be harmed by the collapsed industry. We did not act to conceal evidence, and we reject this claim The full information is in the investigation, which as stated was passed on to the plaintiff in full. "

The Tel Aviv Municipality stated: "We are sorry about the incident that happened. Ganei Yehoshua manages the park area, including maintenance and supervision of the trees. To the extent that legal responsibility is determined, the Ganei Yehoshua company will bear it. "

The police said: "Regarding this unfortunate incident, no criminal suspicion has arisen, and therefore no investigation has been opened."

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